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A company that provides power supplies for mass spectrometers to test for drug abuse in sport has bought one of its rivals.

Applied Kilovolts, a supplier of high voltage power supplies to the scientific instrument industry, has bought Brandenburg.

The company, which also provides power supplies to identify foreign bodies in food, has also simultaneously bought-out the minority holding of its founder.

The acquisition of Brandenburg will enhance Applied Kilovolts’ product offering and expand its business in the US.

Both deals were completed with a funding package of £8.31 million provided by private equity firm Pi Capital and debt arranged by The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS).

Pi invested £3.93 million in the deal and will consider making additional finance available to fund Applied Kilovolts’ buy and build strategy. This was complemented with £4.38 million of bank debt provided by RBS.

Pi’s investment was led by managing director Peter Brooks and supported by Guy Davies and Val Tourres. The firm has a seat on Applied Kilovolts’ board and an observer.

Brooks said this deal is a good opportunity to back an established manager who has delivered strongly in the past three years in a niche market.

“We believe we are paying a fair entry price,” he added. “Applied Kilovolts is the first of a series of investments that we will be offering our members where there will be more focus on yield and the established robustness of the business to give protection to private equity returns and yet still have the opportunity of scalability on the upside.”

Applied Kilovolts’ chief executive, Kevin Wheelhouse, said the acquisition includes a funding package that will help the company significantly increase its client base and will fast-track its growth strategy.

Wheelhouse was advised on his acquisition of a majority stake in Applied Kilovolts in 2003 by Tenon. It was Tenon that conducted an acquisition search, identifying and approaching Brandenburg.

Teneon director Harry Dhand said this acquisition doubles the size of the company and provides a strong platform for continued growth and further acquisitions.

The financial aspects of the acquisition were managed by Hurst Morrison Thomson, led by partner Andrew Thomson and director Simon Jordan.

Thomson said this acquisition of Brandenburg has boosted Applied Kilovolts’ position in the high voltage power supply market. “Kevin has successfully grown Applied Kilovolts since 2003’s buy-in and the enlarged group is now well placed to use the production and technology synergies arising from this acquisition to achieve further growth across Europe and North America”.

RBS was advised on its funding by Paris Smith & Randall LLP, led by James McNeil, Andrew Heathcock and Richard Atcherley.

Applied Kilovolts supplies high-voltage power to a range of scientific instruments, such as mass spectrometers, x-rays and electron guns. Applications for such instruments include drug design and discovery, airport security scanning, criminal forensics and quality control in the food industry.

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