SEA Equity

We are entrepreneurial investors focused on small and medium sized companies across the UK and Europe

About Us

SEA Equity is a private investment firm focused on backing small and medium sized companies across the UK and Europe. We approach investments with an entrepreneurial mindset and work alongside experienced management teams to promote transformational growth and build market-leading businesses through geographic expansion, strategic acquisitions and operational improvements.

We make decisions quickly and deploy flexible capital to fund a wide range of transaction types. We back management teams in buy-outs, support new teams to buy-in, acquire non-core divisions from large corporates and help owner-managers to find solutions in a retirement sale.

Key Facts about SEA Equity

Focused on acquiring businesses with profits of between £1-10m
Ability to complete investments in short time frames
Access to a team of industry-leading operating executives to strengthen and support existing management teams
Long-term investment horizons without restriction on hold period

Team

With experience in a variety of sectors, we are passionate about helping companies to reach their full potential. Please call or drop us an email to discuss a business opportunity.

Elliott Nicholson

Partner

[email protected]
+44 (0) 203 675 7732

Elliott is a founding partner of SEA Equity and a Director of Vacuum Furnace Engineering and Dycem. Before SEA Equity, he was a member of H.I.G. Capital’s private equity team in London. Elliott has extensive investment experience completing a wide range of transactions in a variety of industries with a particular focus on industrials, business services and media.

Prior to joining H.I.G., Elliott was part of the investment banking team at J.P. Morgan Cazenove advising UK industrial clients.

Elliott graduated from University College London with a degree in Economics.

Stani Schmidt-Chiari

Partner

[email protected]
+44 (0) 203 675 7731

Stani is a founding partner of SEA Equity and a Director of Vacuum Furnace Engineering and Dycem. Before SEA Equity, Stani was at H.I.G. Capital covering the UK and German speaking countries for private equity investments. Prior to that that he worked at Apax Partners focusing on financial and business services companies. Stani started his career at Lehman Brothers in leveraged finance.

Stani graduated from University College London with a degree in East European Studies and Economics and holds an MBA from INSEAD. He is a native German speaker, is fluent in English and French and speaks conversational Russian.

JONAS RAVE

Director

[email protected]
+44 (0) 203 675 7733

Prior to joining SEA Equity as a Director, Jonas was Director of Business Strategy for Ampush, a fast-growing technology company based in San Francisco. Previously, he worked at H.I.G. Capital covering the UK and German speaking countries for private equity investments. He started his career in the Consumer & Retail M&A team at Goldman Sachs in London.

Jonas holds a first class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Warwick and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He is a German native and speaks conversational French and Italian.

James Mitchell

Director

[email protected]
+44 (0) 203 675 7734

James joined SEA Equity from KPMG where he headed UK mid-market private equity coverage. Previously, he worked at H.I.G. Capital covering the UK and Ireland for private equity investments. James started his career in the corporate finance team of the Wilton Group, a family office services boutique.

James holds a degree in Law from the University of Leeds and a Masters in International Relations with Islamic Finance from Durham University.

Nick Hallwright

Associate Director

[email protected]
+44 (0) 203 675 7735

Nick is an Associate Director at SEA Equity. Nick joined from Waterman Capital, a mid-market New Zealand private equity firm, where he spent two years as an Associate and subsequently Investment Manager. Nick started his career in the investment banking team at UBS in Sydney, Australia, where he worked across the industrials and leveraged finance teams.

Nick holds a degree in Law and a degree in Commerce (Finance) from the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

Portfolio: VFE

VFE is the leading specialist in the service, design and calibration of vacuum furnaces, autoclaves and other industrial heat treatment equipment. VFE has significantly broadened its service offering now operating with 92 employees from premises in the West Midlands, Poole and Singapore. VFE offers novel engineering solutions for heat treatment manufacturing technology.

SEA Equity unlocked this complex transaction by providing new management including a CEO, Chairman and Finance Director to re-enforce the existing management team and to enable some of the vendors to retire.

SEA Equity is backing the VFE team and Roy Kishor (Chairman) to develop VFE’s product range and geographic coverage to further improve the service offering to their blue chip customer base. Vendors Keith Masters and Keith Potter will remain a key part of the management team going forward driving sales and providing their extensive engineering knowledge.

Visit www.vfe.co.uk

Seeking add-ons: Service, calibration, spare parts, design and manufacture of heat treatment equipment, vacuum pumps or flow control in the UK, USA and Northern Europe.

Portfolio: Dycem

Founded in 1966, Dycem is a world-leading manufacturer of branded polymeric contamination control flooring, which is sold to a global blue chip customer base. In addition the brand is synonymous with non-slip products for the physiotherapist, occupational therapist and assisted living markets worldwide.

The business today exports to more than 50 countries worldwide, has a turnover of around £7.5m and employs 55 staff, based in key sites in Bristol in the UK, Rhode Island in the USA and an office in Cavite, Philippines.

SEA Equity bridged the entire transaction value at close to ensure a fast and orderly process and provide the vendor with certainty. SEA Equity sourced a management buy-in team backing Stewart Cantley as MD and Michael Bell as finance director to continue to grow the business internationally. Former MD and shareholder Mark Dalziel is staying with the business as a non-executive director, working with SEA Equity and the new management team in taking Dycem to the next stage in the company’s development.

Visit www.dycem.com

Seeking add-ons: Service and equipment/product manufacturing businesses selling into laboratories, cleanrooms or critical and controlled environments.

Portfolio: AIC

AIC is a leading provider of technical support, repair, maintenance, refurbishment and calibration services for industrial autoclaves and other heat treatment equipment. AIC’s team of engineers has been serving a blue-chip, global customer base in the aerospace and high-end automotive industries for over 25 years. AIC now operates as part of VFE.

Visit www.vfe.co.uk/autoclaves/

Seeking add-ons: Service, calibration, spare parts, design and manufacture of industrial autoclaves and heat treatment equipment.

Portfolio: Taylor Hopkinson

Taylor Hopkinson specialises in the renewable and clean energy sectors, providing senior contractors, permanent staff and executives globally, with a particular depth of expertise in the offshore wind industry. The company is headquartered in Glasgow, with additional offices in London, Madrid, Houston and Mexico City.

Taylor Hopkinson is led by CEO and founder Tom Hopkinson. Stewart Cantley, former CEO of Swift Worldwide Resources, a large global energy contract recruitment business, joined Taylor Hopkinson’s board as chairman as part of SEA Equity’s investment. SEA Equity is providing growth capital to back the THA team’s ambitious plan to further strengthen their leading market position and build a global leader in renewable energy recruitment.

Visit www.taylorhopkinson.com

Seeking add-ons: Providers of staffing and recruitment services to the renewable energy market.

Portfolio: Pyroban

Pyroban is a global leader for explosion proof equipment for hazardous environments. Pyroban converts OEM materials handling equipment to make it safe for use in environments where combustible materials are present. It also manufactures explosion proof diesel engines and engine conversion kits, primarily for use in the oil and gas industries. Pyroban is headquartered in Shoreham-on-Sea and operates across the globe.

SEA Equity acquired Pyroban from Caterpillar, Inc. in November 2017 in an accelerated carve-out transaction. As part of SEA Equity’s investment, Brian Quarendon joined as CEO, strengthening the company’s existing management team.

Visit www.pyroban.com

Seeking add-ons: Manufacturers, converters and service providers operating in the explosion proof equipment and hazardous environments market globally.

Portfolio: Pyropress

Pyropress is a specialist manufacturer of explosion proof switches, transmitters and valves for use in hazardous environments with a history of over 60 years of product innovation. The company is headquartered in Plymouth and sells its products to a global customer base.

SEA Equity acquired Pyropress from Caterpillar, Inc. in November 2017 in an accelerated carve-out transaction.

Visit www.pyropress.com

Seeking add-ons: Producers of components used in hazardous environments.

Portfolio: Incodia

Incodia (formerly CPI Card Group UK) is one of Europe’s leading providers of gift cards, loyalty cards, commercial cards and related fulfilment services, primarily serving high street and online retailers. Its award winning end to end service and product offering covers design, card printing and personalization and fulfillment.

SEA Equity acquired Incodia from the NASDAQ listed CPI Card Group Inc in an accelerated carve out transaction.

Visit www.incodia.co.uk

Seeking add-ons: Manufacturers, providers and related fulfilment services of pre-paid debit and credit cards, gift cards, loyalty cards and commercial cards in the UK and Europe.