NVM Private Equity (NVM) has announced that it has completed an £18 million management buyout (MBO) of Oxfordshire-based Pareto FM.
Funds from the deal will be used to buy out two founder shareholders and invest in technology to support Pareto FM’s continued growth.
Founded by its managing director Andrew Hulbert in 2014, Pareto FM has built its reputation as a people-focused business, upgrading the traditional delivery of FM services with a focus on customer service, diversity and staff engagement. The firm said it has honed its business model on the delivery of more specialised engineering services and provides broader FM solutions in a blend of operated and outsourced models, within a sector worth around £120 billion.
The business was set up by Hulbert as an antidote to large, inflexible service providers, delivering a tech-enabled suite of customer-focused solutions. The management team has built up a blue-chip customer base and claims a market-leading Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 75 and was recently named in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100.
Pareto said it has performed strongly during the Covid-19 pandemic and has recently secured several high-profile contract wins with global technology, media and software firms.
David Rolfe and Peter Hodson led the investment for NVM and both will be joining the board to support Hulbert as he continues to lead the firm’s growth plans.
This investment is the seventh from NVM’s Private Equity Vintage III LP Fund, which was raised in 2018. This marks an active period for NVM which recently exited from Nottingham-based IT Solutions firm Agilitas which provided investors with a cash return of 8.4x.
Hulbert said: “This deal… is the next major step for Pareto as an ambitious, driven and disruptive facilities service provider. This will not only enable us to further support our client base, but also create significant opportunities for growth within our team members. The investment will enable Pareto to maintain its growth story and continue to disrupt the market. We have built the foundations of a great business model that we can now take to a much wider platform.
“Our mission is to continue to change the face of facilities management and demonstrate why innovative, progressive, social value lead organisations like ourselves are critical to UK plc. ”
David Rolfe, investment partner at NVM, said: “Pareto is unique in the market. It is a dynamic and energetic FM business with a highly engaged and differentiated workforce which is completely disrupting the traditional FM sector.
“This is yet another example of a high-quality, founder-led, regional business that has exactly the kind of dynamics which NVM seeks to invest in.”
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