Hill Dickinson advises Next Wave Partners on acquisition of Roof-Maker in £30m deal

Hill Dickinson’s corporate team has advised Next Wave Partners on its acquisition of Leicester-based Roof-Maker for £30 million from its founders Rachel Owen and Scott Nicholas. Roof-Maker is a fast growing, vertically integrated, omni-channel retailer of premium, high performance roof-lights, skylights and bi-fold doors.

Pricoa Capital Group provided senior debt and also invested in the transaction. Rachel Owen and Scott Nicholas have re-invested alongside Next Wave Partners and banking partner, Pricoa, along with members of the existing management team. The business will continue to operate from the facilities in Leicester and Mr Nicholas will remain in the role of chief design officer.

Hill Dickinson corporate partner Craig Scott and legal director Mike Murphy acted on behalf of the buyer and Next Wave Partners, and banking and finance partner Richard Capper advised the buyer in connection with its senior debt funding requirements from Pricoa. 

Ms Owen and Mr Nicholas started the business in 2001 with a £5,000 investment. Over the last 15 years, Roof-Maker has enjoyed rapid and continued growth to become a market leader. “When we founded the business, our goal was to produce products and services that we would want from a supplier ourselves” commented Rachel Owen.

“Rachel and I have really enjoyed building up Roof-Maker over the last 15 years into the leading manufacturer and supplier of roof-lights in the UK” said Scott Nicholas “However, we recognized that the time was right to find a strong partner with experience of growing businesses such as ours, in particular developing export opportunities. We are very excited about the future and looking forward to working with the NWP team, Pricoa and the Roof-Maker management team over the coming years to achieve more success together.”

“In a market underpinned by government legislation surrounding CO2 emissions and our desire for greater natural light (and space) in our homes, Roof-Maker offers contemporary, high quality, bespoke products with superior thermal insulation and solar gain efficiencies delivered to site within days of being ordered.”

“Roof-Maker is a pioneer in its market and primarily sells direct to end-users undertaking home improvements and renovations across the UK. We were impressed with the degree to which the business has harnessed the internet to drive sales, thereby disrupting and bypassing traditional and established routes to market with its leading social media presence.”

“We are delighted to have been able to invest in such a great company and are excited by the opportunity to work with the management team to take the business to the next level” said Dean MacKenzie, partner of Next Wave Partners.

“Roof-Maker has been an amazing success story and we want to build on that success moving forward.” said Paul Mildenstein, CEO of Roof-Makers. “With Next Wave Partners and Pricoa’s support, I feel very confident we have found the right partner to grow the business domestically and internationally.”

Commenting on the deal, Hill Dickinson corporate partner Craig Scott added: “It has once again been a pleasure acting for Next Wave Partners on this latest transaction. This is the start of an exciting new chapter for Roof-Maker as it looks to build on its success and expand, with particular focus on export opportunities. We wish them the best of luck for the future.”

Next Wave Partners has a track record of significantly growing businesses they have acquired and the new investors plan to further accelerate the growth of Roof-Maker by developing new areas of opportunity and investing in new products, markets, facilities and equipment.