Slaughters, Travers lead on £140m Umeco sale

The engineering group is selling Pattonair to Exponent Private Equity for a ­figure in the region of £140m, with completion expected in July.

Travers private equity head Philip Sanderson is leading for the buyer ­together with senior associate James Renahan. Lucinda Cawood, an associate in ­Travers’ corporate team, tax partner Russell Warren and banking partner Andrew Gregson assisted.

Renahan had previously acted for Exponent in the £150m MBO of Ambassador Theatre Group and Live Nation’s UK theatres in 2009.

Umeco hired Slaughters as seller’s counsel, with ­corporate partner Andrew Jolly as main adviser ­alongside associate Connor Cahalane. Partners Stephen Powell, Sara Luder and Roland Doughty advised on financing, tax and employment respectively.

Slaughters has advised Umeco on major deals for decades, with corporate head Frances Murphy as a key contact.

Corporate partner David Beech coordinated the Irwin Mitchell team advising the management of Pattonair. Chief executive Clive Snowdon and finance director Douglas Robertson had proposed an MBO but resigned after the bid failed.

The disposal is part of Umeco’s move away from the supply chain sector and an increased focus on advanced composite ­materials, which it supplies to clients including Boeing, Airbus and Formula 1 teams.