Electra Partners supports CALA Group’s acquisition of Banner Homes

POSTED 24 March 2014

Electra Partners is pleased to announce a further investment of £15 million by Electra Private Equity PLC ("Electra") in CALA Group. Electra originally co-invested £13 million alongside Patron Capital Partners and Legal & General in the £200 million acquisition of CALA in April 2013. This further investment is to finance land purchased by CALA as well as its acquisition of luxury house builder Banner Homes, and together with previous commitments takes Electra's total investment in CALA to £30 million.

Banner Homes' focus on high specification, premium homes, across central and southern England, represents a perfect strategic fit for CALA which focuses on upmarket, family homes within affluent locations in the south of England, the Midlands and Scotland.

CALA has previously announced plans to double the size of its business organically by 2017. The acquisition of Banner Homes will now enable the company to accelerate those growth plans.

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

"The high level of investment activity seen in 2013 has continued into this year, and in the six months since September 2013 we have invested or committed to invest in excess of £200 million. As this investment in CALA demonstrates, Electra's flexibility continues to be important in enabling us to deploy capital in attractive opportunities."

Alex Fortescue, Charles Elkington and Tom Stenhouse are responsible for the investment in CALA Group.

This is the fourth investment Electra Partners has announced this year, following the £85 million investment in Hotter Shoes in January 2014, the £83 million commitment to invest in Ogier Fiduciary Services in February 2014 and the £14 million acquisition of Calrec in March 2014. In the year to 30 September 2013, Electra Partners announced record levels of investments and realisations, investing £337 million and realising £459 million on behalf of its major client Electra Private Equity PLC.

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 or Charles Elkington:
Andrew Honnor or Matthieu Roussellier, Greenbrook Communications  +44 (0)20 7952 2000
Andrew Kenny or Nicholas Board, Electra Partners  +44 (0)20 7306 3902

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 150 deals. As at 30 September 2013, the firm had funds under management of over £1.5 billion including available investment capacity of more than £450 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 30 September 2013, Electra has seen diluted NAV per share growth of 279% compared to a 140% 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.