Irwin Mitchell Advises On International Electronics Company Deal

8th August 2014

The Sheffield office of law firm Irwin Mitchell has advised on the management buy-out (MBO) of Armour Home Electronics.

The transaction sees Armour's Group's Chief Executive George Dexter, along with fellow executives Nicky Spence and Chris Emerson, acquire the trading businesses of Armour Home Electronics and Armour Asia from their AIM listed parent company. Armour Group plc, advised by the London office of Arnold & Porter, will become an investing company specialising in the technology sector following the deal. The Armour Home division has developed a range of market leading brands such as QED, Q Acoustics, Systemline and Alphason and is a recognised leader in the consumer and audio electronics market both in the UK and worldwide. Its UK customer base includes John Lewis, Selfridges and Harrods, as well as independent specialist retailers such as Richer Sounds. Armour Asia was launched at the beginning of 2007 to support and promote Armour Group across Asia-Pacific. George Dexter has been CEO at Armour Group since 1998 and with the onset of the economic downturn undertook a major strategic re-structuring of the Armour Home business which involved merging its two operating businesses, eliminating heavy losses and reducing operating costs by £4m per annum and returning the business to profit in 2013. Earlier this year George negotiated on behalf of Armour Group plc the successful sale of Armour's automotive division for £11m. Commenting on this latest deal, George Dexter said: -The acquisition will be the start of another exciting chapter in the life of Armour Home and Armour Asia with our destiny very much in our own hands. With a recovering world economy, particularly in the UK, I believe that we can look forward to a sustained period of growth and success driven on by the launch of new products and the further expansion our geographical footprint. Matt Ainsworth, Corporate Partner at Irwin Mitchell in Sheffield, who advised the management team on the deal said: -George and his team are passionate about the Armour Home and Armour Asia businesses and I look forward to the progress that they will undoubtedly make in driving the business forward and generating greater success here in the UK and overseas. Irwin Mitchell's Corporate and Banking team, which operates across both its Sheffield and Leeds offices, advised on some of the region's highest profile deals during the first half of 2014 - including the multi-million pound MBO at 250-year old tool manufacturer, Spear & Jackson. Other deals in the region that Irwin Mitchell in Yorkshire has advised on include the £21m acquisition of Ask4 by Darwin Private Equity, the sale of bathroom company Cavalier to HLD Group, Lockton's acquisition of motorsport insurance broker, MIS Motorsport and Rotherham-based Underwood Meat Company's purchase of Butlers.