Terra Firma overhauling Garden Centre Group board

Having acquired the Garden Centre Group in March of this year for £276m, private equity firm Terra Firma has already begun making changes at the top and is understood to have removed four directors.

Filings at Companies House, and a source close to the business, have confirmed that Sir Malcolm Field (formerly CEO of WHSmith) and Lionel Young (retired from Deloitte’s corporate transaction services) are two of those who have departed, and it is thought that Terra Firma will be replacing them with its own representatives – understood to be normal practice in such situations – although they have not been named at the time of writing.

The acquisition was funded by a combination of equity and debt, although specific figures were not revealed. In acquiring Garden Centre Group, Terra Firma’s buyout fund - which raised £5.4 billion in 2007 - is now understood to be around 85% invested, and is nearing the end of its investment period.

Terra Firma has begun to look at deal-by-deal financing for future opportunities, initiating discussions with investors over the purchase of Annington Homes, a UK housing group expected to be worth in excess of £1 billion.

Source : Insight Research Team