Commercial law firm Hill Dickinson has advised a major Indian manufacturer of plumbing and drainage pipes, adhesives and sealant, on an investment that sees the Indian giant become 95% shareholder in British based company Seal It Services, UK.
Astral Limited, which trades and is widely known under the names of Astral Pipes and Astral Adhesives, is already a household name in India, providing plumbing and drainage systems along with adhesives and sealants to millions of homes across the country.
The company, which was founded in 1996, is regarded as a pioneer of CPVC pipes in India and has a total network of more than 2535 distributors and 180,000 dealers in pipes and adhesives.
Seal It Services, which trades as Bond It, is a Yorkshire-based manufacturer and supplier of high-performance building chemicals such as sealants and adhesives, to international clients including large scale construction and builders’ merchants.
Leeds based corporate partner Sandip Khroud led on the deal for Hill Dickinson, assisted by Rebecca Bennett (senior associate), Stephen Betts (tax consultant) and Hamzah Mahmood (paralegal).
The decision to expand Hill Dickinson’s Leeds office practice in 2021 to include a Corporate team has given us the opportunity to develop strong client relationships here on the ground with businesses in and around the city. The fact that we are an international law firm with local market knowledge and connections meant we were able to advise our Indian client, Astral, on acquiring a larger stake in a local business, which helped ensure the whole transaction was handled smoothly, end to end.Sandip Khroud
Partner, Hill Dickinson
Astral Pipes’ chief financial officer Hiranand Savlani added:
“The opportunity to buy an additional stake in Seal It Services is well aligned with our ambitions to grow our presence in the UK. We are grateful to Sandip Khroud and the team at Hill Dickinson in Leeds for taking excellent care of the legal aspects of the acquisition and are very much looking forward to further growth.”
The Board of Astral Limited, which was already an 80% shareholder in Seal It Services, approved the purchase on 15 September 2022 of an additional 15% stake in the company.
Seal IT Services Limited recorded sales of £32.66 million and EBITDA of £4.65 million for the financial year 2021-2022.