Engineering firm Sowga Ltd, which has bases in Bristol, Birmingham and West Sussex, has been sold to facilities management firm Pareto Group, which is backed by Swiss investment giant Pictet.
The move combines Pareto's provision of compliance and technical services to the built environment with Sowga’s expertise in mechanical engineering, creating added value for clients coupled with new growth opportunities for employees.
The deal was led by Sussex-based EMC Corporate Finance’s Michael Pay and Michael Gibbs.
Sean Howard, Pictet investment director, said: "We are thrilled to welcome Sowga to the Pareto Group and excited by the combined opportunities to deliver enhanced service levels to both Sowga and Pareto’s customers.
"EMC were a pleasure to work with on this transaction, and clearly provided valuable advice to Dave, Aaron and the Sowga team, and helped get this exciting partnership across the line."
Dave Howard, shareholder of Sowga, added: "Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the business, one where the team will be able to accelerate the vision of providing quality services and continuing to deliver for our clients. I’m delighted with the outcome.
"The EMC team, led by Michael Pay and Michael Gibbs demonstrated the value of having good advisors right from the outset. Their deal experience and knowledge of the facilities management industry helped us deliver a fantastic outcome and I could not be more grateful for their support."
Michael Pay, co-founder of EMC corporate finance, added: "It was a pleasure to act for Dave and the team at Sowga to deliver this transaction.
"In a technical sector they have built a very strong business based around customer service and project delivery, which is set to continue to flourish as part of Pareto.
"This transaction demonstrates once again the appetite for Private Equity backed platforms to deploy follow on capital for acquisitions. At EMC we continue to see a high level of M&A interest in the region as private equity seek to execute buy and build strategies."
Other advisors included Brighton and Hove-based Plus Accounting, South East law firm DMH Stallard, London and Midlands-based Copper Parry, and national firm Browne Jacobson.
