Private equity firm Connection Capital has backed the £24 million secondary management buyout of container firm Cargostore with a £7.5 million investment.
Cargostore provides specialist transport and storage container equipment for hire or sale worldwide, primarily for customers in the offshore wind power, oil & gas, international aid and defence markets. The business was established in 1993 and is based in London, with 30 storage facilities and depot locations around the world. It makes annual profits of around £4 million.
Cargostore’s management team led by CEO Justin Farrington Smith is reinvesting alongside Connection Capital. Cargostore’s current private equity backer, Agathos, will also retain a minority stake.
Bernard Dale, Head of Private Equity at Connection Capital, said: “Cargostore is a market leader in a fast-growing niche offering attractive returns on capital, with significant room for further growth thanks both to the increasing emphasis on offshore wind power in global energy policy, and favourable regulatory drivers that play to its offering.”
Justin Farrington-Smith, CEO of Cargostore, added: “Connection Capital’s investment will be instrumental in enabling us to consolidate our competitive advantage and leverage favourable market dynamics to deliver our future growth plans. With a healthy pipeline of new business opportunities for 2020, building on a core base of long-standing customer relationships, it’s a great position to be in as we enter this new decade.”
