UAP and Maven Capital in £20m buy-out
September 2018

UAP Ltd has joined with private equity firm Maven Capital Partners in a £20 million management buyout to ‘take the company to new level’ and support growth plans for its UAP, Fullex Max6mum and other brands.

David Jennings will remain in place as CEO and will be be joined by former Focus DIY and Wickes MD David Pearson as non-executive Chairman, with other board appointments expected soon.

David Jennings explained the move: “In order to realise our huge growth ambitions, it was vital to us that we aligned ourselves with a pro-active private equity house who shared our vision. I know that we now have an equity partner who will help us shape our future and support our growth story going forwards. Our goal now is to repay the faith placed in us by Maven, and it is a challenge that we will relish.”

UAP has grown over the last 20 years, most recently with acquisitions including Fullex Locks, CitySafe UK and the Shoerepairer Forum read story. It now has more than 3,000 product lines.

The company said on announcing the MBO: “Going forward, we have very ambitious plans with a host of new Fullex locks, UAP cylinders, letterplates, handles and a whole lot more products both here in the UK and overseas.

“With the additional funding now available to us, it is a very exciting time not only for UAP, but for all of our customers. There is renewed confidence that UAP is financially very strong and secure to help support you as a customer every step of the way. It is our aim to work closer with our valued customer base than ever before, and the funding will allow us to introduce new products and levels of service that will stand us apart from all of our competitors.”