Brown Gibbons Lang & Company Helps Castle Harlan Acquire Across the Atlantic

Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL), together with its UK Global M&A partner, Livingstone Guarantee (LG), announced today that Castle Harlan Partners IV L.P., a $1.2 billion private equity fund managed by Castle Harlan, Inc., (Castle Harlan), a leading New York-based private equity firm, has acquired Polypipe Building Products Ltd. (Polypipe) from IMI plc (IMI), a UK-based, publicly traded, global engineering company. BGL and LG introduced the opportunity, sourced management, and acted as exclusive financial advisors to Castle Harlan for the transaction.

Castle Harlan Partners IV purchased Polypipe for a total enterprise value of £293 million ($527 million).

Operating out of 39 main facilities with approximately 2,900 employees, Polypipe is a leading manufacturer of plastic pipe systems for the UK domestic and civil construction markets, with a strong presence in niche segments of the plastic pipes and fittings market in Ireland, France and Germany. For the 12 months ended last June 30, Polypipe’s unaudited results were revenues of £314.6 million ($566.3) and EBITDA of £45.6 million ($82.1 million).

Howard Morgan, senior managing director of Castle Harlan, said, “Polypipe is a major player in the UK building products industry, and we are confident that the business will flourish as an independent group.”

Referring to his advisory team, Morgan added, “The two Global M&A firms worked together seamlessly and we are extremely pleased with the result. In fact, BGL and LG provided the highest level of support and value imaginable in such a complex cross-border deal.”

Martin Lamb, chief executive of IMI plc, said, “The sale of Polypipe was an important part of the strategic repositioning of our business as we concentrate on building our future in Fluid Controls and Retail Dispense. Our previous experience of working with BGL and LG helped the process.”

“This is a milestone achievement for BGL and Global M&A,” said David Sulaski, BGL managing director & principal and head of the firm’s private equity practice. “BGL helped develop Global M&A largely to provide unique resources and global expertise to private equity firms here and abroad, and we are pleased to have put its capabilities to work here for one of the US’ most distinguished firms.”

“We have enjoyed working closely with Castle Harlan on two continents to help manage all aspects of this complex transaction,” said BGL director Jay Greyson. “This is a vivid example of what solid teamwork and global collaboration can accomplish.”

Added Jeremy Furniss, the LG partner who co-managed the transaction in the UK together with Alex Sheffield, director, “Castle Harlan’s purchase of Polypipe represents the third significant cross-border transaction jointly managed by BGL and LG in the last 12 months, further evidence that our unique middle-market cross border capability has become an essential resource for sophisticated buyers and sellers around the world.”

About Castle Harlan, Inc.

Castle Harlan, Inc. was founded in 1987 by John K. Castle, former president and chief executive officer of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, a leading investment banking firm, and Leonard M. Harlan, founder and former chairman of The Harlan Company, Inc., a diversified real estate and corporate finance advisory firm.