The deal
“This is a
core acquisition for Corven Ventures, bringing together a world class
management team, experience in niche businesses and the ability to couple
financial and human capital to support complex
transactions”
Mark Edwards, Director, Corven Ventures
The acquisition, backed by Corven led equity, will
bring sector experience to compliment the existing management team. Taking
over, following the recent launch of the exciting new CSR car, Corven are
looking forward to supporting Caterham as it puts the car into production and
to driving the
company forwards in response to increasing customer demand
and a threefold increase in the track market over the last five years.
Lead financial advisors on the deal were Corven Corporate Finance and lawyers
were Osborne Clarke. Banking facilities were provided by HSBC and due diligence
by Moore Stephens.
Management team
Management will
be led by ex Lotus Cars General Manager, Ansar Ali who is joined by another ex
Lotus Cars manager Gideon Wigger as Operations Director. With over 10 years of
automotive experience, James Basden (founding Director of Corven) and Mark
Edwards (Director of Corven Ventures) will join the board as Non-Executive
Chairman and Non-Exec Director respectively. Simon Nearn, will continue to
assist the new management team on a consultancy basis.
The company
Founded in 1973,
Caterham is the pre-eminent racing car in its class. Caterham offers affordable
performance on both the road and the track. Caterham, currently produces four
variants of the Caterham7: the Classic, the Roadsport, the Superlight and the
CSR, arguably the fastest road-legal car in production.
Racing is at
the heart of Caterham tradition and Caterham Motorsport has become one of the
most successful forms of club racing the world over. There are now 11 Caterham
championships in five countries.
Caterham Cars employs over 70 people
in 3 operational sites across the country producing in excess of 500 units a
year which are sold in the UK, Europe, North America and Japan. Turnover is in
the region of £15 million.
www.caterham.co.uk
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