Incident management company FMG’s executive chairman, Andrew Cope, has led a management buyout at the firm for an undisclosed sum.
The buyout team acquired the majority stake from Spirit Capital in association with new investors Endless.
Spirit acquired its stake in FMG in 2008.
FMG’s founder, Nick Brown, remains a shareholder.
In December 2014, Endless announced it had raised a new fund of £525 million to invest in buyouts, non-core acquisitions from larger group and refinancing. The fund is supported by a range of global investors.
he buyout will see Cope increase his investment and shareholding in FMG alongside CEO John Castling and the rest of the senior management team.
Cope joined FMG in April 2014 and previously led Zenith through five private equity buyouts between 2003 and 2014.
“We are on the cusp of some very exciting developments at FMG and this is a great time to complete the buyout and accelerate the growth in the business. We believe we can shake up the industry and that’s what we intend to do, delivering great service for our clients,” said Cope.
“We were very lucky as we had a lot of investors keen to support our plan, for which we are very grateful. We chose Endless to invest with us as they have a remarkable way of transacting, which is so much faster and more attune with what management teams want than anything I have experienced in the six buyout processes I have now been involved in,” said Cope.
