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Farsound

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Farsound
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Farsound

FARSOUND

Founded in 1986, headquartered in Romford, UK, Farsound consisted of two divisions, a Distribution division and a Manufacturing division, both serving the commercial aerospace and defence sectors from a single facility in the UK.It had over 125 customers including many of the world’s largest MROs, airlines and international OEMs.

Entry Date

July 2011

Deal Status

  • Realised
  • July 2019, December 2019

Sector

Aerospace & Defence

Geography

  • UK Headquartered
  • International Business

complexities

  • Owner/Management Transition
  • Fixable Underperformance
  • Carve-out

rubicon origination

Rubicon established a direct relationship with the vendor and Founder’s family in advance of a sale process in 2010. Rubicon had significant experience in the Aerospace industry, and were comfortable with the lack of a CEO in the business. Our credentials and relationship were key to establishing trust and acquiring the Company.

Rubicon angle

Rubicon viewed the two divisions as separate and separable businesses, even though these were managed by a single Management Team out of one facility. The divisions had different business models with completely different drivers, a complexity Rubicon are experienced in solving. Moreover, the Company also needed assistance in appointing a CEO to oversee the Management Team.

    • Growth opportunity

    • Rubicon identified that the Distribution division, which was rebranded Farsound Aviation, had a highly differentiated and sustainable model, creating tremendous value to its MRO customers. This provided an opportunity to expand its customer relationships and build a global presence, making it an attractive growth platform.

      By contrast, the Manufacturing division, rebranded XCEL Aerospace, was a loss-making, relatively undifferentiated build-to-print manufacturer, facing the threat of customers moving work to suppliers in lower labour-cost geographies and required cost reduction and a new Management Team.

      • Owner/management transition

    • Following its Founder and CEO passing away, Farsound became an orphaned Company in need for Rubicon to facilitate an Owner/Management transition, whilst also separating the Company into two completely separate businesses and appointing a new CEO.

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Farsound

VALUE CREATION STRATEGY

Rubicon worked on consolidating, optimising and fully separating Farsound into two completely separate businesses. We helped secure and expand global market presence and customers relationships for Farsound Aviation while effecting a turnaround of XCEL Aerospace.

    • Successful physical, legal and management separation of the two businesses, including the transfer of approvals.

    • Internationalised the business by placing Farsound people and consignment inventory into China, Europe and Japan.

    • Creation of a highly attractive pure-play C-class component supply chain business.

    • Diversified the target market from engines powering wide-body aircraft to narrow-body aircraft.

    • Enhanced Management Team, including new CEO, Purchasing and Sales.

    • Initiated and executed the acquisition of Sterling Aircraft Products.

    • Rigorous strategic planning processes including meeting industry experts, customers, competitors and recruiting specialist advisors to penetrate new customers (MTU).

    • Implementation of KPIs and improved financial reporting.

“Under Rubicon ownership, Farsound has developed into a highly distinctive business model and a leader in a large and growing market ”

Ben Mitchell, Vice President, AGIC

Fibron

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Fibron
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Fibron

FIBRON

Fibron, based in Hoddesdon, on the outskirts of London, is a UK leader in the design and manufacture of umbilical systems for the control, repair and maintenance of wellheads in the oil and gas industry.These systems, which consist of hoses, connectors and reels, deliver power, data and fluids from the rig or vessel to the sea floor. They can be up to 5km in length and weigh up to 50 tonnes. Each system is unique and Fibron’s differentiator is their engineering skill in designing and manufacturing systems to meet the specific operating environment of a particular application. The cost of system failure is very high, so customers place a premium on suppliers like Fibron that have a wide number of prior reference sites and an excellent reputation on quality.

Entry Date

December 2018

Deal Status

  • Realised
  • August 2023

Sector

Subsea

Geography

  • UK Headquartered
  • International Business

complexities

  • Carve-out
  • Fixable underperformance

rubicon origination

Fibron was a non-core (and the only UK) business owned by Actuant, a $1.5bn market capitalisation US Company, for over 10 years. Actuant mandated an adviser to sell Fibron in the middle of a cyclical downturn in the Energy industry and struggled to find a buyer.Rubicon were introduced to the situation through our advisory network and our due diligence revealed that the business was starved of attention and investment by its parent, as well as underperforming its potential.

Rubicon angle

A reasonably complex carve-out from a large US parent of an unloved business which needed significant investment.

    • Growth opportunity

    • Fibron lacked an actionable strategic plan and there were insufficient resources and focus on business development, geographic expansion and diversification outside of Oil and Gas. Yet, customer satisfaction with the technical capability of the Company and the quality of the product was extremely high, while the major competitor was shifting its focus to power cables for the offshore wind industry, creating an opportunity for Fibron to gain market share.

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Fibron

VALUE CREATION STRATEGy

    • Following the carve-out, after a period of stabilising the business, Rubicon restructured the Senior Leadership Team, recruiting a new, customer-facing, CEO, from the industry and strengthening the Operations and Sales functions.

    • In addition, the Rubicon suite of cash flow monitoring and financial controls were implemented, leading to improvement in cash generation, which was reinvested in Capex and growth initiatives.

    • A comprehensive strategic plan was developed and executed, which lead to greater resources and focus on new customer acquisition in adjacent segments such as Remotely Operated Vehicles, Deep Sea Exploration and Offshore Wind. Geographic expansion was also pursued in the Middle East and Asia.

“Rubicon’s impact has been game changing. Their advice, mentoring, and at times a gentle push, has been exactly what we needed. We’re in a much better place, ready for our next journey ”

Andrew Finch, finance director

Goodridge

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Goodridge
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Goodridge

goodridge

Established in 1969, Goodridge is a leading automotive global fluid transfer system manufacturer supplying niche OEM, Racing, and Performance markets. It is the pre-eminent brand within the performance fluid transfer industry and is highly regarded by OEMs, racing teams and car enthusiasts around the world.

Goodridge had over 400 FTEs across 10 facilities in nine countries, on three continents.

Entry Date

December 2013

Deal Status

  • Realised
  • October 2021

Sector

Advanced Engineered Fluid Transfer Systems

Geography

  • UK Headquartered
  • International Business

complexities

  • Owner/Management Transition
  • Fixable Underperformance

rubicon origination

Rubicon was introduced to the family of the Founder three years after his passing through the advisors to his widow, who were running a sale process. Through our extensive experience in successfully navigating Owner/Management transitions in private Companies, together with our industrial experience in niche Automotive, we were able to build the trust required for her to feel comfortable that we would protect and enhance the Founder’s legacy.

Rubicon angle

Helping a family-run business to sell and manage the Owner/Management transition.

    • Growth opportunity

    • Goodridge was managed as a lifestyle business without a coherent strategy in place, and given its geographic diversity, had a challenging span of control. Additionally, there were areas where there was significant underinvestment, such as the brand, people and equipment.

      • Owner/management transition

    • Management consisted of 18 individuals spread worldwide without a coherent organisational structure. Rubicon’s thorough due diligence identified that the business required a new, external CEO and a geographically-segmented organisation.

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Goodridge

VALUE CREATION STRATEGy

The business had an exceptional brand which was under-invested and an anchor to value creation.

In addition, there was evidence of insufficient OEM customer focus and service and the historically strong Performance segment had been ignored and had lost significant market share.

    • Cash Flow Monitoring: Goodridge did not track financial performance effectively and there was no monitoring of cash. Rubicon implemented their 12 week cash flow monitor process pre acquisition, and within 3 months, Goodridge were reporting their monthly results by day 6 of the following month.

    • Growth Strategy: The focus was changed from volume OEM customers to niche customers, aligning the customers’ needs to the Goodridge capabilities and margin expectations. In addition, the performance segment was rejuvenated by new recruitment and increased investment in the brand. Geographic expansion was achieved both organically (Japan) and by acquisition (Italy).

    • Management Team Restructuring: The Management Team was restructured including the appointment of a new CEO and regional Managing Directors in the USA and Europe.

    • Product Development & Innovation: Significant additional resources were added in this critical area, enabling new applications such as EV battery cooling and hydraulic suspension systems to be penetrated.

“A massive thank you to Rubicon for taking such good care of the business that we began over fifty years ago and taking it from strength to strength ”

Trudi Goodridge

John Lawrie

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John Lawrie
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John Lawrie

John Lawrie

Founded in 1930 by metal merchant John Lawrie in Aberdeen with sites in Scotland and in Houston. The business was made up of three main divisions which provided key services to the oil and gas, infrastructure, construction and utility sectors: Metals, Tubulars and Decom.

Entry Date

November 2017

Deal Status

  • Realised
  • February 2022, November 2022

Sector

Metals & Critical Infrastructure Services

Geography

  • UK Headquartered
  • International Business

Complexities

  • Owner/Management Transition
  • Fixable Underperformance
  • Carve-out

rubicon origination

Rubicon was introduced to the Management Team of John Lawrie by their accounting advisors in Aberdeen, Scotland. The Management, who owned 40% of the business, had been with the company for 30 years, and were keen to find an experienced industrial partner to allow the Meldrum family to exit in full.Rubicon was differentiated as a partner for the team given our hands-on approach in developing and executing growth strategies in close collaboration with management teams. Moreover, Rubicon were able to spend time understanding the evolution of cyclicality in the historic trading of the group, which demonstrated that the business had grown underlying volumes and margins per ton in its core segments.

Rubicon angle

Enabled a successful Owner/Management transition. The Chairman and majority shareholders sold out and retired at completion and we partnered with the capable and motivated Management Team to acquire the business.

    • Growth opportunity

    • Rubicon saw the potential and the need for the full operational and legal separation of Tubulars from Metals and Decom, as there were different businesses, required different growth strategies and would appeal to different strategic buyers.

      The Tubulars division had an attractive growth opportunity in North America, which would require significant investment in Working Capital and Capex to add new sites.

      The Metals division was focused on North-Sea decommissioning, a nascent market with significant growth drivers.

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John Lawrie

VALUE CREATION STRATEGY

    • Support Decarbonisation Trends: Opened three new locations for Metals, including an acquisition in the Shetland Islands, to increase the available footprint for Decom work, as well as increasing the sources of scrap metal form the North Sea (which would appeal to “Green Steel” manufacturers).

    • Exit Sale: John Lawrie Metals was sold to ArcelorMittal (a part of their “Green Steel” strategy) in April 2022 and John Lawrie Tubulars was sold to a portfolio Company of Center Rock, a US Private Equity firm in November 2022, who intend to merge it with APP, a portfolio Company.

    • Organic Expansion: Established eight new locations for Tubulars, including two with extensive fabrication facilities, in the USA.

“With Rubicon, we quickly realised that they understood the business and most, importantly, were really good to work with. We enter an exciting new era as a financially strong and ambitious business backed by Rubicon Partners who will help us drive further organic growth ”

John Lawrie Management Team