Electra Partners announce its investment in DiGiCo and formation of a new professional audio group

POSTED 04 August 2014

Electra Partners is pleased to announce its investment in professional audio mixing console manufacturer DiGiCo. This transaction complements the products sold under Electra’s existing brands, Allen & Heath and Calrec, and forms a new professional audio group. This investment sees the partial exit of ISIS Equity Partners, which has retained a minority stake in the new deal. The debt facilities for the group are being provided by Babson, Bank of Ireland and HSBC.

Headquartered in Chessington, Surrey, DiGiCo designs and manufactures premium digital audio mixing consoles for live sound, theatre productions and broadcast applications as well as supplying interfacing for post-production and recording studios. The innovation and quality in DiGiCo’s products means that they are used in some of the most demanding audio environments such as major international tours, the most recent World Cup and Olympics and the Grammys.

The combination will create one of the most dynamic groups in the professional audio industry, while still retaining the unique skills, customer relationships and identities of each brand. DiGiCo’s CEO, James Gordon, steps up to the new role of group CEO and will work alongside Malcolm Miller, the current Chairman of Allen & Heath and Calrec, who now becomes Chairman for the group.

Alex Fortescue, Chief Investment Partner at Electra Partners, said:

“We are delighted to announce our investment in DiGiCo which will complement our existing brands in the professional audio market. Electra has a long track record of supporting international growth in our portfolio and the group now has three strong brands which sell and support their products in over 100 countries. The creation of the group has been enabled by our flexible investment strategy, which allowed us to provide all of the financing for the first two acquisitions.”

Charles Elkington, Investment Partner at Electra Partners, said:

“DiGiCo augments our existing investment in the professional audio sector. We have worked hard over the last 18 months to bring together these three successful businesses. We look forward to working with James Gordon and his team to grow the group, while also preserving the distinctive brand identity and excellent customer relationships of each business.”

James Gordon, CEO of DiGiCo said:

“I am very excited to be leading this group of great companies and brands. There is a terrific opportunity to develop innovative new products using the creativity and experience of our combined R&D teams and I look forward to working with Electra Partners to grow the businesses.”

Charles Elkington, Ian Wood and Shakira Adigun-Boaye are responsible for the investments in Allen & Heath, Calrec and DiGiCo. Charles and Ian will represent Electra Partners on the Board of the company.

Today’s announcement continues a busy 2014 for Electra, following the £84 million investment in Hotter Shoes, the £82 million investment in Ogier Fiduciary Services, the £33 million co-investment in Innovia Group and the further investments in CALA Group and Treetops Nurseries. In the six months to 31 March 2014, Electra Partners announced a record six month period for investment, investing or committing £250 million, building on record levels of investments and realisations in the year to 30 September 2013.

Electra Partners refers to Electra Partners LLP acting on behalf of its client Electra Private Equity PLC. 

Ends

For further information please contact:

For Alex Fortescue and Charles Elkington, Electra Partners: 
Andrew Honnor and Matthieu Roussellier, Greenbrook Communications    +44 (0)20 7952 2000
Andrew Kenny and Nicholas Board, Electra Partners    +44 (0)20 7306 3932

Note to Editors:

About Electra Partners LLP
Electra Partners is an independent private equity fund manager with over 25 years' experience in the mid-market buyout sector. During the last 25 years it has invested in excess of £4.1 billion in over 200 deals. As at 31 March 2014, the firm had funds under management of over £1.5 billion including capital available for investment of circa £300 million. 

Electra Partners’ flexible investment strategy allows it to invest broadly across the private equity market with a particular focus on Buyouts and Co-investments, Secondaries and Debt. In addition to this, its long-term capital base means it is not constrained by expiring investment periods or exit pressure driven by fund raising cycles and is therefore able to realise investments only when returns are maximised for its investors.

The firm's major client is Electra Private Equity PLC (“Electra”), a private equity investment trust which has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1976. Electra’s long-term investment performance has been consistently superior to private equity and other benchmarks. Over the ten years to 31 March 2014, Electra has seen diluted NAV per share growth of 260% (equivalent to a ten-year annualised return on equity of 14%) compared to a 129% increase in the FTSE All-Share.

For further information please visit www.electrapartners.com.
 
Electra Partners LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.