Endless seals biggest deal yet

The UK turnaround firm has commitment £20m to build up a London based outsourcing group.

The UK turnaround furm that rescued bookstore chain The Works has sealed its biggest deal to date, buying a London-based outsourcing group just two months after opening a Mayfair office.

Leeds-based Endless acquired Liberata, which provides business processing outsourcing services to the public sector, from US based private equity firm General Atlantic Partners.  The deal is the firm’s first in London and comes after it opened an office in Mayfair in October, adding to branches in Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester.

Endless will invest more than £20m int he business in its biggest equity commitment to date, according to Chris Clegg, the Endless managing director who led the deal.

Liberata has a turnover of more than £100m and is profitable, but faces structural issues that have hampered its ability to grow, Clegg said.  Endless will back the company’s existing chief executive Dermot Joyce and chief financial officer Martin Trainer, who joined Liberata over the last 16 months to restructure and build the business.

Garry Wilson, managing partner of Endless, said: “This is a landmark deal for Endless, representing both our biggest investment to date and our first deal in London.”

Clegg said: “London is a key market that will help drive our growth.  We had planned the launch for some time and our managing partner has move there.  London has more players but also more opportunities.”

Endless has invested more than £110m in over 30 deals since its inception five years ago.  It is currently spending its £164m second fund, which is 60% invested, and will annouce another deal in Birmingham on Monday, according to Clegg.

Previous deals include The Works, which bought out of administration in 2008 and plans to sell this year, as well as Crown Paints, engineering company Amco Group and office products wholesaler Vasanta Group.