Entrepreneur Dean Curran acquires Garner Osborne

Entrepreneur Dean Curran, search fund CEO at Novastone Capital Advisors (NCA), completed the deal with the backing of Ethos Partners and ThinCats.

Based in Newbury, Garner Osborne is a specialist in printed circuit board (PCB) manufacture and assembly, and mechanical assembly.

It has more than 400 active customers across a variety of sectors, including medical, automotive, aerospace, seismology, audio and broadcasting, defence, measurement & instrumentation, power supply, IOT, communications and network, surveillance and security, and retail.

The deal will provide an exit for the founder and former chief executive Mike Garner and his business partner Nigel Priest, with Dean Curran stepping into the business as co-owner and chief executive.

Mike retains a minority shareholding in the business - and, having reinvested a
substantial portion of his own proceeds, Steve Honeybun will remain in place as operations director.

Dean said: “I’d like to thank Mike and Nigel for building such a fantastic business and creating a great team of people at Garner Osborne.

“I am grateful to Mike for trusting me to continue his legacy and take the
business forward for a bright future in Newbury.

“I have been hugely impressed by the operational excellence and extremely high-quality products that Garner Osborne manufactures, supplying a diverse range of customer sectors.

“I am excited about the business’ potential for future growth and look forward to cementing our reputation as a market-leading UK PCB manufacturing and assembly company.”

HMT acted as lead advisers on the transaction.

Mike of Garner Osborne said: “The support and guidance provided by the team at HMT was invaluable during the sale process.

“Their calm and pragmatic approach to the process eased the concerns of the shareholders at the initial stages and made the technical aspects of the transaction easy to understand.”

Andrew Thomson of HMT added: “We are delighted to have advised the shareholders of Garner Osborne on their exit to Dean and his investors.

“Mike, Nigel and Steve have built a fantastic business, and the transaction will enable the business to continue its impressive growth trajectory and build scale in the onshore electronic component manufacturing market.

“We look forward to working with Dean and Steve again as they
look to consolidate the fragmented industry in which the business operates.”