It has been an exceptionally busy few months at Kingsbrook.
Across 2026, we have completed transactions spanning technology, engineering, healthcare, professional services, property, industrial equipment and specialist consumer markets, working with buyers ranging from UK trade acquirers and private investors to private equity-backed groups and major international organisations.
Among our recent completions have been Security Software Solutions to Redsquid, PDQ IT Support to VirtualIT, Rosedale Funeral Home to PE-backed Lighthouse Funerals, Lush Heat Treatment to an acquisition group involving AE Industrial Partners, GS Precision and FT Gearing, Priest Engineering to Xcel Aerospace, John Martin Partnership and SID to Graham & Sibbald, Bloc Climbing to Flashpoint, Clemas & Co to Italian manufacturer Ghibli, Auction House Cumbria to Auction House UK, MBE Fabrications to private investors, and Montcalm International to Winncare UK.
Our latest completion, involving Nippon Sanso, adds another major international strategic acquirer to that list and continues what has been an excellent period of dealmaking for the Kingsbrook team.
But while we are immensely proud of the number and quality of transactions completed, the more interesting story is what happened behind the headlines.
Because very few successful business sales follow a straight line.
The best buyer isn’t always obvious
One of the biggest misconceptions about selling a company is that the eventual buyer will be one of the obvious names identified at the outset.
Sometimes they are. Often, they aren’t.
Priest Engineering is a good example. Our first approach to the market generated several meetings but no offers. Rather than conclude there was no market for the business, we revisited the opportunity, expanded our research and approached the market again.
The second campaign generated six offers, ultimately resulting in a successful sale to strategic acquirer Xcel Aerospace.
We saw similar perseverance pay off with Lush Heat Treatment. The owner had been considering a sale for many years, but timing and financial performance initially made finding the right buyer difficult.
Eventually, the right strategic circumstances emerged. The acquiring group had a compelling reason to bring specialist heat-treatment capabilities in-house, creating an excellent strategic fit.
Sometimes the difference between an unsuccessful process and a successful transaction is simply finding the right buyer at the right time.
Competition matters, but one buyer can still be enough
Our recent transactions also demonstrate why Kingsbrook places so much emphasis on proactively identifying and approaching potential acquirers.
PDQ IT Support generated six offers, Bloc Climbing generated five, and Priest Engineering generated six.
Competition creates options, provides evidence of market appetite and strengthens a seller’s negotiating position.
But Montcalm International demonstrates another important point.
Our campaign generated 40 signed NDAs and meetings with a number of significant industry participants, yet ultimately only one party submitted an offer, Winncare UK.
That didn’t mean accepting the buyer’s opening position.
Through extensive negotiation, Kingsbrook ultimately achieved an enterprise value 2.5 times Winncare’s initial offer.
Finding a buyer is only part of our job. Maximising what that buyer is prepared to offer can be equally important.
Strategic motivation drives value
Several of our recent transactions demonstrate why understanding a buyer’s strategic rationale is so important.
Winncare’s acquisition of Montcalm provided access to its exclusive relationship with premium Canadian care-bed manufacturer Umano, complementing Winncare’s existing healthcare equipment portfolio.
Ghibli’s acquisition of Clemas & Co provided the Italian manufacturer with an established platform in the UK and access to a significant existing customer base.
The acquisition of Lush Heat Treatment enabled its buyer to bring a mission-critical aerospace and defence process in-house rather than continuing to outsource it.
These buyers weren’t simply acquiring historic profits.
They were acquiring capabilities, customers, market access, products and strategic opportunities.
That is why Kingsbrook’s research process focuses on identifying businesses that may have a strategic reason to pay more, rather than simply approaching the most obvious acquirers.
Getting an offer is only half the job
Perhaps the strongest theme running through our recent completions is that agreeing a deal is rarely the end of the challenge.
MBE Fabrications involved complex working-capital and invoice-finance negotiations. Clemas required the management of a lengthy cross-border transaction involving UK and Italian parties. Montcalm required careful handling of a commercially sensitive supplier relationship that was fundamental to the acquisition.
Auction House Cumbria faced perhaps the biggest challenge of all when its original buyer withdrew after the sale documentation had already been signed.
Rather than allowing the transaction to collapse, discussions quickly pivoted towards another party. The deal was back in due diligence within around a week and completed shortly afterwards.
Deals encounter problems. A successful process is often determined by how those problems are handled.
Perseverance pays
Not every business sells on the first attempt. Several of our recent completions required a second approach to the market, a change of buyer or tenacious and problem solving. That isn’t unusual.
Selling a privately owned business is rarely a straight line from appointment to completion.
Our job is to keep researching, keep creating opportunities, negotiate hard and manage the transaction when inevitable obstacles appear.
The recent run of completions at Kingsbrook is a testament to that approach, and to the work of the entire team behind every transaction.
For our clients, these deals represent the culmination of years, and often decades, spent building their businesses.
Helping them find the right buyer and successfully realise the value of that work remains the most rewarding part of what we do.
Considering selling your business?
Whether an exit is something you are considering today or several years from now, understanding who might buy your company, why they might want it and how to create competition for it is an excellent place to start.
Kingsbrook works with shareholders to identify and approach strategically motivated buyers in the UK and internationally, create competitive sale processes and manage transactions through to completion.
Speak to Kingsbrook for a confidential conversation about your options.
