Washroom group PHS has £1.5bn price tag
Washroom and office services provider PHS Group has been put up for sale with a price tag of £1.5bn.
Firm footing: PHS provides services to more than 300,000 British companies
Charterhouse Capital, the private equity group that acquired PHS in 2005, is looking to double its original investment in the group, which provides services to more than 300,000 companies across Britain.
American investment bank Goldman Sachs has been appointed to attract bidders.
PHS posted pre-tax profits of £96.5m for the year ending March 2010 and sales of £360m. Originally floated and valued at £414m in 2001, PHS was taken private by Charterhouse four years later for more than £700m.
Founded in 1963, the company has 90 branches and has become the largest group specialising in workplace services, such as washrooms, waste management and flooring.
It employs 5,000 staff and offers services as diverse as Christmas tree hire and swine flu prevention kits.
PHS also has a presence in Spain and France, with new branches soon to be opened in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Private equity giant Charterhouse is known for making successful acquisitions. It was founded 30 years ago and has invested in consulting group Wood Mackenzie and AA-to-Saga owner Acromas.
Charterhouse is hoping to complete the sale of PHS by the end of the year and a successful outcome would give the private equity group additional cash for new acquisitions.
The sell-off is expected to attract the attention of several private equity firms, such as BC Partners, Apax and Clayton Dubilier & Rice. The group could also see interest from trade buyers such as services group Rentokil Initial.
PHS Group declined to comment.
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