Yorkshire’s NG Bailey becomes £600m-turnover business with latest acquisition

Engineering, IT and facilities services giant NG Bailey has acquired Freedom Group, a provider of facilities and power engineering services based in Wakefield.

The expanded business will have an annual turnover of more than £600m and employ 3,600 people.

Yorkshire-headquartered NG Bailey said the deal will expand its offering and open up new sectors, including defence, airports and the electricity distribution network (DNO) market.

Freedom works with DNOs and private network owners across substations, underground cables, overhead lines, buildings and associated infrastructure, with key customers including Northern Powergrid, Scottish Power, Electricity North West and Yorkshire Water.

NG Bailey chief exec David Hurcomb said: “Bringing Freedom Group into the NG Bailey family provides a natural extension to the range of services we already offer, particularly engineering and maintenance services.

“Combining our offerings strengthens both our market positions, but it also creates significant new opportunities for both businesses.”

He continued: “It will enable NG Bailey to compete more effectively in new markets, specifically the electricity distribution sector. It is an area where our combined skills and market-leading approach to principal contractor management, design and BIM will add considerable value.

“Having Freedom’s skills and expertise will increase our capabilities within electrical infrastructure. It makes strategic and commercial sense to have Freedom as part of our group as it’s a well-respected company in a sector with strong future growth opportunities.”

Following the acquisition, Freedom will continue to be run by its existing management team under its current brand.

Freedom Group COO David Hartley commented: “This transaction marks an exciting milestone in the development and growth of Freedom, which has become a well-established, successful business with a strong presence in its core market.

“Our existing knowledge of, and relationships with, the distribution network operators, combined with NG Bailey’s innovative approach to large engineering and services projects, provides a strong platform for sustained growth for both companies.”

He added: “The enlarged group will offer a highly-attractive, end-to-end proposition across electrical, mechanical and fabric maintenance services to a number of markets, focusing on outstanding technical expertise and project delivery.”

NG Bailey’s Mike Porter and Jonathan Stockton, chief finance officer and deputy chief finance officer respectively, led the transaction for the company.

They were supported on tax due diligence by Andrew Coticelli of Deloitte, and on corporate finance advisory and financial due diligence by Giles Taylor and Nigel Hinchcliffe from KPMG. Gareth Saynor of law firm CMS led the legal process.