It's been a long time brewing but, finally, a £12.5m management buy-out deal has been inked.

MBO at Concept

The Concept group, founded in 1996 by Steven Walsh and Paul Allen, has a turnover of £30m.

The MBO deal also includes Acorn Sports and Leisure (UK) Ltd. and Wheelbase (UK) Ltd., both of which remain as subsiduaries of Concept Cycling.

The members of the Concept MBO team were: MD Robert Pollard, corporate sales director Mark Winters, purchasing director Peter White and manufacturing director Richard Bevan.

The buy out team at Acorn was Julian Pointon and Brian Dickson.

Concept owns bike brands such as Integra, Saxon, Concept, Reflex, Coyote and Viking. It has seven sites dotted around the north of England and Wales. The HQ is at Worsley, Manchester with an assembly plant in Oldham, and a wheel building factory in Wales. The group employs 240 people and, according to a company statement, produces 400 000 bikes a year.

Walsh and Allen have retained percentage stakes in the new business and according to Robert Pollard will be offering their "continued commitment and support."

The MBO deal was arranged by Clearwater Corporate Finance plc, with funding from Lloyds TSB Bank Plc and Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance.

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