Epiris announces the acquisition of Diamorph

POSTED 20 November 2018

Epiris today announces that Epiris Fund II, advised by Epiris LLP, has agreed the acquisition of Diamorph, a supplier of advanced material solutions for demanding and safety-critical applications. This is Fund II’s fifth investment. Financial terms are not being disclosed. Completion is scheduled to occur in January 2019, subject to certain conditions.

Diamorph is the market leader in a variety of niche applications, ranging from rollers used in ceramic tile kilns, through bearings and insulators used in traditional and renewable energy generation and distribution, to rotor vanes and other composites used in pumps and compressors. The business enjoys close and longstanding relationships with customers globally.

The company is led by CEO Gordon MacLeman and CFO Mark Hutchison. Peter Williamson, who chairs a number of private equity-backed businesses after an executive career that included senior positions in the advanced material sector, will join as Non-Executive Chairman.

Alex Fortescue, Managing Partner of Epiris, said:

“We are delighted to be making such strong progress with Fund II, with each of the five investments we have made being a perfect match with our value and transformation strategy.”

Charles Elkington, Partner at Epiris, said:

“Diamorph is a high-quality business: it has leadership positions in stable markets with strong underlying demand drivers. Beyond this solid base we see an opportunity to achieve a step change in terms of growth by bringing greater focus and ambition to the development of Diamorph’s undoubted strengths in research and development and application engineering.”

Gordon MacLeman, CEO of Diamorph, said:

“We are excited to have started this partnership with Peter and with Epiris. We have a shared vision for Diamorph and are looking forward to working together to deliver it.”

The transaction is led for Epiris by Charles Elkington, Pamela Brent and Aaron Atwal.

Epiris is advised by Roland Berger, PwC and Ropes & Gray.

#Ends#

For Epiris LLP please contact:

Andrew Honnor, Matthew Goodman, Matthieu Roussellier, Greenbrook Communications
+44 (0)20 7952 2000

Nicholas Board, Epiris
+44 (0)20 7306 3902

About Epiris LLP

Epiris LLP is a top-decile* private equity firm which invests in opportunities to transform businesses in partnership with exceptional management teams. We target control positions in UK-headquartered businesses with an enterprise value of between £75 million and £500 million, deploying between £40 million and £150 million of equity.

Fund I

Between 2011 and 2016 Epiris invested £1 billion in buyouts and loan-to-own debt investments in respect of which it has delivered a gross IRR of 38%*. Synthetic net returns from this portfolio are in the top-decile of European private equity funds of comparable vintages.

Fund II

Epiris Fund II is an institutional private equity fund raised in 2017. Recent investments by Fund II include TI Media, the UK’s largest consumer magazine publisher, Portals, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of “substrate” for banknotes, The Club Company, the UK’s largest country club operator and Bonhams, the global auction house.

For further information please visit www.epiris.co.uk.

Issued by Epiris LLP which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

*      As at 30 September 2017. Gross IRR does not reflect adjustments for investment management and administration costs. Comparator data supplied by Preqin. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.