10 deals of HMT – the MBO of Tessella

To celebrate its 25th anniversary of leading corporate finance deals, HMT is reminiscing on 10 notable transactions from our archives. Having completed over 500 deals, producing a shortlist of 10 has not been easy but the MBO of Tessella led by former CEO Alan Gaby has certainly made the list.

Founded in 1980 by Kevin Gell, Tessella is an international provider of science powered technology and consulting services. Tessella uses data science to accelerate evidence-based decision making, allowing businesses to improve profitability, reduce costs, streamline operations, avoid errors and out-innovate the competition.

In 2012, Gell decided it was time for him to retire and realise his investment. Gaby, who joined Tessella as a director a few years before was the perfect candidate to lead the management buyout funded by Mobeus Equity Partners.

Having never worked with private equity before, Gaby was looking for a trusted advisor with strong private equity deal credentials. He got in touch with Andrew Thomson and appointed HMT to support him and the management team on the transaction. HMT negotiated the deal with the vendors and Mobeus and provided support on more complex areas of the transaction such as the tax structure.

In July 2012, Gaby and Tessella’s management team acquire the business supported by Mobeus. The MBO of Tessella was awarded deal of the year at the Thames Valley Deal Awards in 2013.

Gaby and his team ran the business for three years and sold Tessella to global engineering giant The Altran Group in December 2015. Alan stayed on through the new ownership and has recently left Tessella after 11 years in the business. Gaby now uses his experience at Tessella to act as a non-executive chairman for a business in the technology sector.

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