Private equity house Octopus has backed a management buy-out (MBO) at Tristar Worldwide Chauffeur Services, a UK-based company which serves clients in 44 countries. The £9.75 million deal was part-financed by an investment of £4.8 million from Octopus’s private equity and intermediate capital funds.

Barclays Bank is providing senior debt and an invoice discounting facility to support the MBO, which is led by incumbent CEO Dean de Beer.

Octopus director Andrew Cavaghan, who led the deal for the firm, has joined Tristar’s board. He says there is room for further international expansion for Tristar, which operates overseas through a network of affiliates together with a recently launched US arm.

Cavaghan adds: ‘[Tristar] has achieved impressive year-on-year growth, more than doubling the size of their business over the past four years.’

The opportunity to invest in Tristar’s MBO was introduced to Octopus by accountancy firm Hurst Morrison Thomson, which provided corporate finance advice to the buy-out business.

Established in 2000, Octopus Investments has over £400 million under management. It invests in both quoted and unquoted companies with a market capitalisation of up to £100 million.