Management buyout at Norwegian Log Buildings

Published by

Peter Davison

Reading-based designer and manufacturer of log cabins and buildings Norwegian Log Buildings has undergone a £5.4 million management buyout backed by private investment company Ethos Partners.

Norwegian Log Buildings designs, manufactures and supplies log building supplies to commercial and private customers for uses including garden rooms and holiday lodges.

The buyout was led by sales director Ed Taylor and contracts director Paul Williams. The transaction facilitates an exit for the founding shareholders, Mark Chatfield and Nick Forrester.

Corporate finance experts HMT, supported by accountancy firm Haines Watts, acted as lead advisors on the transaction which included assessing the strategic options for the shareholders and management, identifying suitable investment partners, negotiating detailed exit and investment terms, supporting the business through an extensive due diligence process and project managing the deal to a successful completion.

Mark Chatfield, shareholder of Norwegian Log, said: “It was a pleasure to work with the HMT team, who showed professionalism and attentiveness in securing the sale of the business.

"Ricky and Andrew provided us with invaluable advice and assistance during the transaction process, utilising their commercial expertise to manage a successful deal. We would not hesitate to recommend HMT to any prospective business sellers.

Scott Bannerman, investment director at Ethos Partners, said: “We are delighted to have completed our investment into Norwegian Log and look forward to supporting the management team during the business’ next phase of growth.

"Under Ed and Paul’s leadership, Norwegian Log is well placed to build on its existing success, delivering premium bespoke log building products to customers nationwide.

"We are grateful to the HMT team for their work on the transaction, who went above and beyond to ensure a successful completion.

Andrew Thomson, managing partner at HMT, said: “Mark and Nick have built a fantastic business over the past 25 years and we are delighted to have advised them on the disposal of their shares to the management team.

"With Ed and Paul leading the business and Ethos’ support, Norwegian Log is on the right track to deliver their ambitious growth plans. We look forward to working with them again.”

Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country. An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts. Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.