London investment trust company Caledonia Investments has purchased the venerable lens-maker Cooke Optics in a transaction that values the business at £96.5 million ($127.5 million), Caledonia said today.
Leicester, U.K.-based Cooke was previously held by private equity firm Growth Capital Partners, along with Cooke’s management team. Caledonia said it had subscribed £62.5 million ($82.6 million) of equity and £30.0 million ($39.6 million) of debt to acquire approximately 89% of Cooke; the management team reinvested £7.8 million ($10.3 million) from its sales proceeds to make up the remaining equity.
“We are delighted to be partnering with Caledonia in the next phase of Cooke’s development,” said Cooke Chairman Les Zellan in a prepared statement. “Caledonia’s reputation as a long term, supportive investor gives us confidence that we can continue building the Cooke legacy derived from over 130 years of supporting the film industry.”
Caledonia disclosed that Cooke reported before-tax profits of £2.8m ($3.7 million) on EBITDA of £7.7 million ($10.2 million) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017. Cooke employs about 130 full-time staff, Caledonia said.
Cooke Optics: cookeoptics.com
