BGF exits Northern Irish kitchen doors and equipment manufacturer Uform

• BGF bought Uform in 2019
• Uform used BGF’s investment to invest in its production facilities and state-of-the-art equipment as well as expanding its product range
• The business achieved an annual growth rate of 40% according to BGF

BGF announced on Monday that it has exited kitchen manufacturer Uform to Cardinal Ireland Partners. BGF has re-invested as a minority shareholder.

BGF first invested in Uform in 2019. With BGF’s backing, Uform invested in its production facilities, equipment and expanded its product range, enabling the company to achieve an annual growth rate of 40 percent, according to BGF.

The investment from Cardinal will be used to increase the operating capacity of its facility at its headquarters in Toomebridge, Northern Ireland and to increase capacity at its sister company Andoras, in Donegal.

“We are also really pleased to be able to report our first significant exit in Northern Ireland,” said Graham Clarke, investor at BGF. “BGF was set up to back brilliant businesses that are looking to scale and that is exactly what Uform has done. The exit of our original investment has generated a return of greater than 2x with a strong IRR of 25 percent, which clearly demonstrates the high quality of entrepreneurs and businesses we are backing.”

Cardinal Ireland Partners is an Irish private equity growth fund managed by Cardinal Capital Group. Cardinal Capital is based in Dublin and invests in Irish SMEs and mid-market businesses. It has completed 15 investments since 2014.

BGF was established in 2011 and is a London-based investment company that provides growth capital for small and medium-sized businesses in the UK and Ireland.