Member Article

Finance Yorkshire exit as S3 ID sold

Finance Yorkshire has realised its investment in Rotherham-based S3 ID after Singapore listed CSE Global acquired 75% of the business, valuing the company at £10m.

The sale represents the first exit for Finance Yorkshire, which has made an aggregate return of £3.4m from an original investment of £1.6m, generating a money multiple of 2.2 on the transaction.

S3 ID was the first investment completed by Finance Yorkshire’s Equity Linked Fund in January 2011, seeing it take a 25% stake in the UK’s market-leading provider of innovative location awareness solutions.

S3 ID offers a range of unique and patented solutions which improve personnel safety and security in the oil, gas, petrochemical and energy sectors.

Since the initial investment, S3 ID has enjoyed a period of quick growth, reporting profits of just over £1m for the year ended December 2012.

Ian Brown, portfolio director at Finance Yorkshire, said: “S3 ID is a fast growing company which has genuine prospects for further growth.

“We are pleased that Finance Yorkshire has been able to assist the business over the last three years and there is a realistic prospect this Yorkshire business can continue to grow and become a major player in the oil and gas sector.

“The business was in need of additional working capital to fund the size of projects it is now involved with and to support future growth on a world-wide scale. CSE Global has the sector expertise and the sufficient financial backing to provide the funding needed to achieve that ambition.”

Eversheds in Nottingham, led by M&A partner Antony Walsh, advised on the sale of the company. Hill Dickinson in Sheffield, led by partner Paul King, advised CSE.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mark Lane .