hlw Keeble Hawson has represented Hickton Consultants in a deal that has seen it purchased by Chelverton Investor Club.
The deal, for an undisclosed sum, has seen Hickton Consultants managing director Tony Mobbs acquire a stake in the company.
Launched 25 years ago by Tony Hickton, Hickton Consultants is a market-leading provider of Clerks of Works to the construction sector and is based outside Barnsley in Elsecar. It performs a Quality Assurance role on complex and high value projects on behalf of project management firms, architects and contractors. It manages 85 Clerks of Works throughout the country.
The Chelverton Investor Club, which was established as a syndicate of private investors to offer a simple and discrete means of making direct investments in private UK companies, is part of Bath-based Chelverton Asset Management, a specialist investor in sub-FTSE 100 quoted equities and unquoted SMEs.
Members of the club, together with Chelverton Equity Partners, a private equity investment vehicle, publicly traded on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and raised about £1m of equity towards the transaction. It invested alongside Mobbs, with supporting debt finance from Yorkshire Bank Invoice Finance.”
hlw Keeble Hawson partner Chris Wilson, who led the deal, said: “It has been a pleasure acting for Tony Hickton and his co-shareholders in the sale of this business. The transaction demonstrated that the combination of a well-run niche business and co-operation between the parties and their professional advisers can enable a transaction to proceed smoothly and complete on time”.
Chelverton investment director, Richard Bucknell, who led the transaction on behalf of members of Chelverton Investor Club, andwill join the Board of Hickton, said that Tony Hickton had been planning for his succession with the appointment of Tony Mobbs four years ago.
“Since then, the business has continued to develop, and we’re delighted to support Tony Mobbs in acquiring a stake in the company and to help take the business forward at what is an exciting time for the firm,” he said.
Pictured, from left: Peter Newton, former Hickton Consultants director, Tony Hickton and Hickton Consultants MD, Tony Mobbs.
