ABEO acquires UK fitness firm Sportsafe

Sportsafe founder Jon Neill grew his fitness equipment contractor from start-up to UK market leader, before selling 80% to European market leader Abeo to support internationalisation.

Overview

Sportsafe is the UK market leader for installing, repairing, and maintaining sports, play and fitness equipment in schools, leisure centres, and businesses.

Founder Jon Neill started the business from his garden shed in Colchester in 1997 with one council contract, then scaled rapidly to build a 40% UK market share and employ 110 staff, before selling a majority stake to European market leader ABEO.

Headquartered in eastern France, ABEO is a pan-European leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of equipment for sports and leisure centres – including gym apparatus, landing mats, PE equipment, climbing walls and locker room fittings.

Listed on Euronext Paris, ABEO posted €250m with 75% generated outside France. ABEO had already acquired similar businesses to Sportsafe in Belgium and Netherlands.

James Pugh advised Jon Neill with legal advice from HCR Law in Worcester.

The problems (challenge)

After over 20 years of rapid growth, Sportsafe was servicing 40% of the UK market, and needed to expand internationally.

An initial foray into Dubai had raised several challenges, and it became clear to the Sportsafe board that they would benefit from joining a larger group with established international operations.

The UK was ABEO’s #2 sales territory at the time – though largely focused on serving the gym market rather than schools and leisure centres. The group wanted to make an acquisition delivering strong market share and an instant bigger footprint.

“I first met James when in 2017 when he acted as the deal leader for the sale of my business.

James has an ability to remain calm under pressure, stay focused when the going gets tough, and be strong enough to stick to his guns to get the results for his clients. He is good fun to work with and I would not want to have gone through a business sale with anyone else.

At all times it felt like we were in control and he could calm a tense situation putting his clients needs first.”

The solution

James Pugh advised founder Jon Neill throughout the sale process. Fortunately, Sportsafe was in good shape thanks to Jon’s earlier collaboration with a leading business coach.

James explains: “While we generated strong interest from private equity, it was clear early on that a larger industry player with an established footprint outside the UK would be the best fit for both parties."

With Sportsafe the preferred acquirer – and other bidders kept warm – James and Jon negotiated the sale of 80% of the equity, leaving Jon holding 20% to sell a few years later.

This illustrates that founders can benefit from a further payout once the business has grown under new ownership – as long as they have an experienced advisor by their side.

Deal stats

1200: ABEO employees

110: Sportsafe employees

€167m: ABEO revenue in 2017

7.1 %: of ABEO revenue growth came from acquisitions

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