Go Plant was a small under-performing subsidiary of a large PLC. The company had a valuable but under-utilised fleet of road sweepers. It was available for sale at a valuation below the realisable value of its assets.

Go Plant was one of the UK’s largest providers of road sweepers and other vehicles to local authorities and construction businesses. From 20 depots across the UK Go Plant supplied over 1,000 vehicles on either a self-drive or with-driver basis. The company had a policy of significant re-investment in its vehicle fleet which ensured it maintained a good reputation with its customers while minimising on-going maintenance expenses.

Go Plant was loss-making in 1995 but had a substantial, under-utilised trading asset base. The management buy-out was funded at a substantial discount to net asset value. The new management team was keen to improve asset utilisation and capitalise on the rapid growth of local authority out-sourcing. The market was highly fragmented, making consolidation opportunities potentially attractive.

Under Graphite’s ownership, Go Plant:

achieved a rapid turnaround in profitability
diversified away from its road sweeper base to provide a wider range of municipal vehicles
became the quality player in the industry with a growing market share
made several successful acquisitions
increased turnover by 59 per cent to £27.6 million in the three years to March 2007
from a negative starting point grew operating profit, after finance lease interest, to over £3.0 million

In 2007 Go Plant was sold to Easternrange, a private investment vehicle, generating a multiple of 4.1 times cost.