Parasol Sold up for £24million

[Money Money Money]

Just picked up a copy of the Manchester Evening News and saw this.


"Parasol has changed hands in a £24m buyout backed by private equity firm INFLEXION"

"In just six years, Parasol has built up a £220m turnover business"

"He expects turnover to hit £300m in the next financial year"



WITH ALL THAT MONEY YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THE LEAST THEY COULD DO IS ANSWER THE BLOODY PHONE!!!!!!!

[Ivor1]

Loads of posts about it already .......

[MarillionFan]

Where are these posts. I want to read about it.

Interesting the price is only £24m. Thats high turnover. But you have to remember they are only skimming a small amount of this.

And £220 turnover they are including every contractors turnover. So you do £50k, Parasol take what 5-10% of that?

The valuation at 24m is normally based on 3/5 Profit. So they are turning £220 turnover for a profit of £5-7 million a year.

How many staff are there?

[Ivor1]

Where are these posts. I want to read about it.

Interesting the price is only £24m. Thats high turnover. But you have to remember they are only skimming a small amount of this.

And £220 turnover they are including every contractors turnover. So you do £50k, Parasol take what 5-10% of that?

The valuation at 24m is normally based on 3/5 Profit. So they are turning £220 turnover for a profit of £5-7 million a year.

How many staff are there?

Ok may be not loads but check page 5 of this post, SJD Simon and Xt... something or other made comment.

http://forums.contractoruk.com/threadnav11023-5-10.html

[MarillionFan]

Only £1 profit. Highly geared that. Very dangerous.

[malvolio]

Yes but, it is not like it's been sold to another party, all that's happened is some non-exec directors wanted to release their shareholding so Parasol effectively bought back its own shares to do so. The core business is untouched - at least until Gay Gordon changes the rules again - and the risk is presumably manageably low or they wouldn't have got the loan to do it.

[simondolan]

Yes but, it is not like it's been sold to another party, all that's happened is some non-exec directors wanted to release their shareholding so Parasol effectively bought back its own shares to do so. The core business is untouched - at least until Gay Gordon changes the rules again - and the risk is presumably manageably low or they wouldn't have got the loan to do it.

The fact that the business is unchanged is not really the point. The worrying fact is that a Company making just over £1m in profit last year is taking on over £24m in debt. Interest and capital repayments on this amount would be over £6m a year .

[gravesendboy]

Parasol

This is an extract from Inflexions website
Perhaps they see Parasol being even larger in the near future at the expense of their competitors

'Inflexion is an active lead investor with a distinctive research-driven approach to the mid-market. Typically Inflexion makes equity investments in the range of £2-10m, in businesses well positioned in their chosen sector and with the potential to deliver superior returns'

[Newby]

I am surprised that the PCG didn't buy it!!

Who said that no one can be impartial?

[ASB]

The fact that the business is unchanged is not really the point. The worrying fact is that a Company making just over £1m in profit last year is taking on over £24m in debt. Interest and capital repayments on this amount would be over £6m a year .

Granted paying 24m for 1m profit does look like an extraordinary valuation. Servicing 24m debt from it would be more than difficult. But is that what is happening. Since a vulture capitalist is involved I imagine they have taken a large stake (but don't know of course).

The VC's don't normally get it wrong (although when they do it can be spectacularly wrong) so I rather suspect there are other aspects that we don;t know about.

Anyway, I would have thought you'd be ecstatic at this sort of vautation. Plonk the for sale sign up and idle the rest of your days on the proceeds in Mustique.