Online materials firm sees 100 per cent growth following KCP investment

Fast growing e-commerce business cmostores.com has doubled its turnover since the investment by private equity house Key Capital Partners (KCP) in 2017. Last year, the dynamic online building products retailer saw sales grow by 46%.

Since the company’s MBO in 2017, KCP, which has offices in London and Leeds, has worked with the cmostores.com management to strengthen the senior leadership team, including recruiting Dean Murray as non-executive chairman, Andy Dunkley as CEO and Sue Packer as finance director. KCP has also supported investment in the infrastructure required to sustain the business’ current growth which included relocating to new 32,000 sq. ft premises in Plymouth and the introduction of new IT systems.

KCP’s in-house research team also sourced a bolt-on opportunity which the PE house supported throughout the transaction. The deal was successfully completed and the new store, www.doorsuperstore.co.uk, which was launched in October 2018, succeeded in generating sales of over £350k by the end of 2018.

CEO of cmostores.com, Andy Dunkley said, “cmostores.com is a fast growing, disruptive player in the construction materials sector and we need to be able to make the right decisions at a quick pace to keep ahead in such a dynamic environment.

“Over the last two years, KCP has been a valuable partner, supporting and challenging us to continue our development and expansion as well as sourcing lots of opportunities for us to consider for both organic and acquisitive growth

“We have now doubled the size of the business since KCP’s investment while generating substantial cash and EBITDA. As a management team, we are focused on continuing our exceptional performance.”

In May 2017, the PE house made an £8.65m investment in the business, giving it a majority stake, with KCP partners Mike Fell and James Excell joining the board.

Mike Fell said, “We recognised the huge potential of this digitally savvy business two years ago and knew that with our strong track record working with e-commerce businesses, we would be able to give it the support it needed to continue its upward trajectory.”

KCP continues to be an active investor, having completed four new deals in the last two years. KCP makes equity investments of between £3m and £15m and has a strong reputation for deliverability as well as a track record of producing outstanding returns for its investors. Previous investments include Gear4Music, Sparta Global and YorkTest.