Clydesdale backs £12m refinancing of cleaning group

LPM Group, a leading UK provider of contract cleaning, security and maintenance services, has undergone a £12 million refinancing backed by Clydesdale Bank.

The new deal will provide LPM with a larger funding partner that is well placed to continue supporting its buy and build strategy. Clydesdale has provided a total debt package of £12 million.

LPM started life in 1985 as London Property Maintenance, a South East-based office cleaning business. It soon began to extend its services and now offers daily office cleaning, shopping centre and retail cleaning, environmental waste management, security and property maintenance throughout the UK.

Sovereign Capital, the private equity buy and build specialist, backed the buy-in management buy-out of the business in 2006 and since then has supported two further acquisitions – that of Leeds-based Dependable Services, a cleaning, janitorial sales and washroom business, in September 2007 and the acquisition of Manchester-based InterCity Group Limited, a contract cleaning and ancillary services specialist, in April 2008.

LPM also recruited an experienced, high calibre team for Axis, its security subsidiary in November 2007. LPM, which is based in Sidcup, Kent, has a turnover of £35 million.

Alison Taylor, a director with Clydesdale’s Corporate and Structured Finance team in London, said: “Despite the challenging market conditions, Clydesdale  Bank is very much open for business and keen to support sound businesses such as this. We are delighted to support Sovereign and LPM, which benefits from a strong management team, a stable market and clear opportunities for growth.”