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Credit squeeze creates rapid opportunities
A new fund run from Haydock by corporate financier Ian Currie and business consultant Steve Charnock has made £1.2m profit, invested £18m and floated three businesses - Enegi Oil, East Lancashire Coachbuilders and Daily Internet - since it raised £60m in institutional investment and floated in September 2007. Results revealed today by the Rapid Realisations Fund, managed by the duo as Cenkos Fund Managers, currently have investments in a fast food chain Deep Blue, consultancy WD Scott, Take2Studios - a camera hire business, the Taylormade betting chain and an insurance services franchise in Clitheroe called Concept Building Services. Charnock, who has looked at a further 100 potential investments, told Insider: "Opportunities are increasing for pre-flotation as the impact of the credit squeeze takes effect."
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Hopes for a sale at Ethel Austin
Discount fashion retailer Ethel Austin is up for sale today after administrators from Menzies Corporate Restructuring were appointed at the Knowsley-headquartered group yesterday. Despite reports earlier this month that Elaine Gray, former right-hand woman of retail entrepreneur Sir Phillip Green, was arranging a rescue for the group, that bid appears to have collapsed. Philip Duffy of Menzies expects the potential buyer to be another retailer. "We are confident someone will come along because this is a strong brand with a strong customer base. There will be some store closures to allow us to continue to trade the company," he told Insider. The latest high-street casualty of the credit crunch, the £150m-company can trace its roots back to 1934 and today employs 2,800 people. It was acquired by ABN Amro for £122.5m in 2004, but began to struggle last year, when it agreed a debt-for-equity exchange with its lenders. 
NWDA frontrunner - region is in good shape
Robert Hough, a frontrunner to be the next chairman of the Northwest Regional Development Agency, told Baker Tilly's annual dinner in Manchester last night that the region's economy was better able to ride out a downturn than the South East. In a statesman-like speech on the current economy, the well-connected business grandee and Peel Holdings deputy chairman said: "The extremes are not as evident in Manchester and the North West. Our economy is more balanced, more diverse and more sustainable." For the record, when Insider asked him about his chances of stepping up from NWDA board member to chairman, he politely declined to comment.
Feed the world from Preston
AIM-quoted Plant Impact, the Preston-based developer of technologies that improve crop productivity, has signed a five-year agreement with Miller Chemical & Fertilizer Corporation of Pennsylvania to market and distribute three proprietary products, mainly in the US. Miller is a global manufacturer and distributor and the agreement has already resulted in the booking of orders worth US$100,000. This is Plant Impact's first marketing and distribution agreement in the US.
JJB looks to follow the JD path
Sports retailer JJB Sports has revealed that is to close 72 stores this month. The business announced a 28.5 per cent fall in profits today, from £47.2m to £33.8m. Chief executive Chris Ronnie admitted that the figures were worse than expected but insisted that the £25m store closures plan would rid JJB of a "huge drain on the business". JJB will refit 40 stores in 2008 in both out-of-town and high street superstore units. Rival JD Sports yesterday announced a 73 per cent leap in profits, attributing its success to cutting underperforming stores and reducing stock levels.
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ArcLight swoops in Chorley
Part of the Chorley-based Fairport Engineering Group has been bought in an institutional buyout led by US-based ArcLight Capital Partners. The deal, which is thought to be worth £30m including ongoing working capital facilities, includes three of the group's subsidiary companies, Insider understands. ArcLight is an energy investment firm headquartered in Boston with more than £3.4bn under management. Fairport specialises in project engineering, process handling, and access and waste solutions. It has been operating since 1982.
Chemical brothers
Chemical distributor Multisol, based in Nantwich, has been bought in a management buyout worth around £40m. Asset-based lender KBC Business Capital and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance provided funding for the deal, part of which has been structured as an insured deferred consideration. The transaction involved local advisers including DLA Piper, Dow Schofield Watts, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Eversheds and Rickitt Mitchell.
Straits talking
Accrington-based Straits Trading Company has been bought by its management team with backing from The Royal Bank of Scotland in a deal thought to be worth over £2m. The business, which clocked a turnover of £5.31m and a pre-tax loss of £540,577 in the year to 31 March 2007, is involved in the design, import and distribution of home and garden accessories. Napthens, Tenon, Ramsdens and DWF advised.
Deal on wheels
Carlisle-based vehicle transporter business ECM has undergone a management buyout backed by Yorkshire Bank. Founder Ray MacDowall has sold his controlling stake to a management team consisting of his brother, operations director Grant MacDowall, finance director Allen Stuart and general services director John Hope. TMG Corporate Finance, DWF, Addleshaw Goddard and Grant Thornton advised.
New £50m fund to back 20 University of Manchester spin-outs
A major new £50m venture fund for University of Manchester entrepreneurs is to be launched tomorrow. The university, with its in-house intellectual property company, UMIP, has teamed up with MTI Partners to announce the first close of the UMIP Premier Fund at £32m. The fund will invest in up to 20 businesses emerging from the university's departments in the £250,000 to £750,000 range and will have options to invest a further £3m.
A Sure thing for Critchleys
Surefil Beauty Products, a St Helens-based cosmetics manufacturer, has been acquired by Hanworth Laboratories Holdings in a £1.5m deal funded by RBS Invoice Finance. Cambridge-based Hanworth has acquired a 75 per cent shareholding in Surefil, which specialises in formulation, development and contract manufacturing for the colour cosmetics industry. The Surefil name and the management team of Paul and Cath Critchley will remain. TMG Corporate Finance advised.
Ineos cleans up
Runcorn chemicals company Ineos Chlor has sold its packed chlorine business to BOC, the UK subsidiary of German multinational Linde. Ineos Chlor is disposing of its related production facilities together with the associated commercial goodwill of the business. Hammonds advised on the transaction.
Lookers enters hire business
Manchester-based car dealer Lookers is to buy Bramall and Jones VW for £2m. The business comprises two Volkswagen businesses and a contract hire and leasing business, giving Lookers an experienced management team and a fleet of approximately 1,500 vehicles for its entry into contract hire.
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Rochdale fights back in town centre row
Rochdale Borough Council, backed by national regeneration agency English Partnerships and consultancy DTZ, has fought back against claims by Sultan Properties that EU procurement rules were not followed when choosing Wilson Bowden to deliver a town centre redevelopment. Andy Zuntz, executive director at Rochdale Borough Council said: "Sultan and Ask made a sufficiently good submission to be shortlisted. But Wilson Bowden Developments was the unanimous choice of both the council and English Partnerships. We are very disappointed that Sultan is suggesting our selection processes did not comply with EU procurement rules and strongly contest any such suggestion."
Grosvenor fights hard as retail suffers
Grosvenor, which yesterday announced a 3 per cent rise in profits to £524m, has made a provision of £48.8m at its Liverpool One scheme, to reflect the fall in capital values across UK property. However, it has let 70 of 80 shops in phase one, to open in late May, and 80 per cent of the scheme's total retail space. Jeremy Simpson of agency Tushingham Moore told Insider: "We're ahead of where we thought we would be." Further lettings could be tough, following research released today by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG that shows retail sales down 3.5 per cent between January and March, described by BRC director general Stephen Robertson as "the strongest evidence yet that customers are making serious economies".
Harrow gets into east Manchester
Despite the sluggish market, ambitious plans in east Manchester keep on coming forward. Manchester City Council has given outline consent to Harrow Estates for the 44-acre Dreyfus Village scheme in Openshaw, which will comprise 1,100 residential units and 8,000 sq ft of commercial space. The scheme is named after French industrialist Charles Dreyfus, who founded dye-maker Clayton Aniline Company at the site in 1876. Harrow, chaired by Redrow founder Steve Morgan, will work with urban regeneration company New East Manchester and architecture firm Taylor Young on the masterplan.
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