Third Acquisition in six months takes Kinetics Group to £80 million

Sovereign Capital, the UK private equity buy & build specialist, today announces the acquisition of TA Horn Holdings Limited ("TA Horn") by its portfolio company Kinetics Group ("Kinetics").  TA Horn is a rapidly growing, North London-based gas installation and maintenance services provider to the social housing sector.

The acquisition will create the largest gas maintenance service provider to the social housing sector in Greater London. TA Horn's base in Barnet and its North London coverage provide an excellent geographic fit with Kinetics' existing operation Seaflame, which provides gas maintenance services to Central and South London local authorities.

Acquired by the vendors in 1986, TA Horn enjoys long-term contracts with local authorities and housing associations in North and West London and the surrounding Home Counties. Customers include the London Boroughs of Camden, Redbridge and Enfield, the district councils of Harlow and Epping Forest and the housing association, Homes for Haringey.

With today's acquisition, Kinetics will have annual sales of over £80 million and a workforce of over 900 employees.  The acquisition enhances Kinetics' position in tendering for larger contracts and gives increased flexibility in resource allocation.

Sovereign first invested in the social housing sector in December 2006 with the acquisition of Seaflame and Camerons, two leading providers of maintenance services. Seaflame is a gas maintenance contractor in the London market and Camerons carries out refurbishment and fabric maintenance services. Kinetics was formed in March 2007 when Sovereign acquired Hudson, a maintenance services provider whose clients include the Ministry of Defence, and combined it with Camerons and Seaflame.

Mark Whittaker, Managing Director of TA Horn, will stay with Kinetics reporting to Chris Cheshire, Group Managing Director. Current shareholder-directors Norman Whittaker and Philip Gomes will also remain with Kinetics as consultants.

Simon Hitchcock, Director at Sovereign, said:

"Having identified the social housing sector as fitting Sovereign's buy & build strategy, we have moved rapidly to complete a number of acquisitions, and have created a significant sized business. These businesses all display the common characteristics of having strong track records, complementary geographies and service offerings, as well as attractive growth prospects. The benefits that today's acquisition of TA Horn brings to Kinetics Group once again demonstrates the advantages of our model in creating value for all stakeholders."

Chris Cheshire, Group Managing Director at Kinetics Group Limited, added:

"TA Horn is a well-run business with a strong track record of growth. By combining it with Kinetics, the group will benefit from an enlarged customer portfolio reducing its dependency on any one contract. In addition, TA Horn's long-standing customer relationships, excellent geographic fit, strong incumbent management and commitment to training and development will enhance all aspects of the Group."