The CEO of a听rapidly-growing听energy tech firm has spoken of the journey from a 鈥榙ifficult鈥� MBO to global expansion.听
Matt Hirst听was the mastermind and leader behind the 2014 management buyout of听Utiligroup, backed by private equity firm听NorthEdge听Capital.听
鈥淚 won鈥檛 lie, to pull off our MBO deal was really difficult and complex,鈥� he tells听老九品茶Cloud. 鈥淚 consider myself and my colleagues to have been really fortunate to be in a position to put together an MBO and it wasn鈥檛 a chance that I wanted to waste and look back on with regret.听听
鈥淚 had to remind myself a lot that if it was easy then everyone would be doing it.听
鈥�When you embark on a management buyout, especially your first one, you are focusing on how you can grow the business under new ownership and just 鈥榞etting the deal done鈥�. There are so many things to do.听听
鈥�Once that is out of the way we then started to think making sure the business is grown in the right way so that future investors would value what we have built and who these future investors might be.鈥�听
Following a period of rapid growth under his leadership,听Utiligroup听鈥� headquartered in Chorley, Lancashire 鈥� was听then acquired in a 拢100m deal听by听US private equity firm Accel-KKR’s services company听ESG听in April 2017.听
Hirst assumed a position on the ESG board and continued to run the UK operation听Utiligroup听鈥� now rebranded as ESG 鈥� before becoming global CEO of the ESG group in July 2020.听
He will speak about his story in a free webinar, organised by听听and听,听on Thursday 25th March focused on 鈥楳aximising value from your MBO鈥�.听The session will discuss management buyouts, why and when it is a good idea, and the challenges involved in succeeding the financing of such an exit strategy.听You can sign up below.听
鈥�A helpful suggestion is to speak to people who have been there and done it.听I did,鈥� Hirst acknowledges.听听
鈥�It is really important to get good legal and corporate finance advisors working alongside you that understand听private听equity and work on these deals all the time. They really help when it gets听tense听and they can reassure the management team when things feel difficult but are听actually to听be expected.听听
鈥�My final tip would be to choose your investor carefully, you need to get on well with them in bad times as well as good, so this relationship is key.鈥�听
The webinar is听the second in a three-part series around preparing for different types of business exits.听The first of these webinars took place on Thursday 25th February and focused on 鈥楶lanning for a Successful 老九品茶 Sale鈥�.
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The ESG software platform听manages tens of millions of customer meters around the world, with听customers in North America, Europe and Japan听鈥撎�the听largest competitive energy markets in the world.听
ESG has听more听500 staff now globally and works听in听the听UK with the likes of Ovo Energy听and听E.ON.听
鈥�I don鈥檛 think you could complete a meaningful transaction without a听well thought–out听plan,鈥� continues Hirst, who has integrated several company acquisitions during his leadership.听听听
鈥�It would be impossible to get serious investors to back you and the business without a detailed financial and market plan, let alone get through a due diligence exercise.听听听
鈥�We are听really excited听to be bringing new products to market this year in all our geographies to help energy providers digitise their relationships with end consumers of energy. We empower energy suppliers to be efficient听through the use of听our leading technology and are constantly enhancing our solutions to enable them to stay ahead.听听
鈥淲e will also be expanding into more geographies 鈥� watch this space.鈥�听
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Praising his staff for adapting to new ways of working during COVID-19, he adds:听鈥�Whilst the smart meter rollout is still way behind where everyone thought it would be a few years听ago it is continuing at a good pace, despite an inevitable slowdown in installations last year due to the pandemic.听听
鈥�It is now in full swing again. We now have millions of smart meters running real time data and transactions through our software on behalf of energy suppliers. This is听really important听as the smart meter is essential in understanding how and when consumers use energy so that the entire industry can become more efficient.听听听
鈥�Using the data from the smart meters, energy suppliers can become more innovative in their offerings as consumers start to invest in energy technology in the home, such as EVs, generation and battery storage.听听
鈥�This technology, starting with the smart meter, is essential in the ambitious drive towards us all collectively achieving 鈥楴et Zero鈥�.听 It鈥檚 an exciting time for ESG to empower the leaders globally and make a shared contribution to our future.鈥�听
Energy