Epiris Fund II announces its first investment with the acquisition of Portals De La Rue

POSTED 01 February 2018

Epiris today announces that Epiris Fund II, advised by Epiris LLP, has agreed to acquire Portals De La Rue (“Portals”), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of paper, or “substrate”, for banknotes, from De La Rue plc. This will be Fund II’s first investment.

Portals manufactures substrate used to make banknotes and security documents such as passports, vehicle registration documents and birth and marriage certificates. The company operates from two sites in the UK and supplies substrate to private and public sector customers for more than 100 countries.

Founded in 1712, the business produces the substrate for 12 billion banknotes each year and over 70 million passports. The company is led by CEO Ross Holliday. Colin Child, former CFO of De La Rue plc, will become Chairman.

Alex Fortescue, Managing Partner of Epiris, said:

“We are delighted to announce Fund II’s first investment. Portals is an opportunity that is a perfect example of Epiris’s value and transformation strategy.

“This announcement also marks the first of what we expect to be many investments from a deep pipeline of high-quality opportunities. Epiris has a proven team, a great strategy and new investor relationships on which to build an exciting future.”

Bill Priestley, Chief Investment Partner at Epiris, said:

“Portals has plenty of intrinsic appeal. It has deep expertise in producing a highly technical product to exacting customer standards. It is a leader in a non-cyclical, growth market which we know well from our previous investment in Innovia.

“Ross and his team have already taken great strides in developing Portals. We are now looking forward to working with them to establish the company on a standalone footing and then to build it into a strategically valuable business through further performance improvement and a renewed focus on growth.”

Ross Holliday, CEO of Portals, said:

“We are really excited to be working with Epiris. They have already shown commitment to our strategic vision and have shared their own ambition for the future of Portals. We fully intend to take advantage of their experience within the market to transform the business in the years ahead.”

The transaction was led for Epiris LLP by Bill Priestley, Owen Wilson and Arvind Tewari.

Epiris is being advised by CMS, PwC, LEK Consulting, CBRE, Pöyry and Gallagher.

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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-centric businesses with an enterprise value of between £75 million and £500 million, deploying between £40 million and £150 million of equity.

Since 2011 Epiris has 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. Epiris is currently seeking investment opportunities for Epiris Fund II, an institutional private equity fund raised in 2017.

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.

This is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States and securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. Any investment in any Epiris fund shall be qualified in its entirety by the terms and conditions of that fund’s offering materials including any prospectus.