The Quercus team, led by Michael Mortimor, Andrew Clegg and Mark Winkler, have advised the shareholders of Wixroyd Holdings Limited (the “Wixroyd Group”) on the sale of the company to Essentra Plc (Essentra).

Based in Chichester, the Wixroyd Group has three leading UK brands of differentiated mechanical components. With a 70 year history, it has a reputation for high quality “c-class” components delivered with an excellent level of service to its 9,000 customers. The Wixroyd Group manufactures and supplies one of the broadest ranges of innovative mechanical components, with a strong product portfolio of over 100,000 products available across the online range providing solutions for product design and engineering challenges.

The acquisition is Essentra’s first since it outlined its new strategy as a pure-play components business. The acquisition of Wixroyd Group expands Essentra’s capabilities in hardware components and creates significant additional cross-selling opportunities across a range of Essentra’s current end markets

The consideration payable for the Wixroyd Group comprises an initial Enterprise Value of £29.5m and up to £7.0m deferred earn-out consideration linked to revenue performance in FY23.

Marcus Iafrate, CEO of Wixroyd:

“The achievements of the Wixroyd team, and the role our products have played in enabling design engineers across the UK to innovate and solve countless engineering challenges, has been a great source of pride for me and my brother Anthony as we have guided the Wixroyd Group over the last 30 years. Throughout the process, Mike and Quercus have demonstrated a deep understanding of our business and the sector in which we operate. This has been combined with high quality advice and service throughout. We are very excited about the enhanced opportunities that the combination with Essentra will generate”

Michael Mortimor, Associate Partner at Quercus said

“Having been owned by the Iafrate family since it’s foundation over 70 years ago, we are honoured to have been trusted by Marcus and his family to deliver a successful sale of Wixroyd. Under the leadership of Marcus and Anthony Iafrate, Wixroyd has delivered consistent growth and demonstrated outstanding margins. In Essentra, we are delighted to have found a strategic home for Wixroyd that can further accelerate its growth”