Sale: Grasform
Crowe advises Grassform on its sale to NPK International (NYSE: NPKI).
Crowe advised the shareholders of Grassform Plant Hire Limited (Grassform), a UK market leader in ground protection and temporary roadway solutions, on the sale of the company to NYSE-listed NPK International Inc. (NPK), based in Texas.
Founded by brothers Mark and Simon Dunning in 2004, Grassform has established itself as a leading provider of heavy-duty trackway and ground protection boards for hire. It serves a diverse client base across a range of sectors from infrastructure, utilities and construction to events, sport and hospitality.
The family-owned business has achieved highly impressive growth in scale and profitability in recent years. This growth has been driven by consistent delivery of outstanding client service and product quality, continuous investment in expanding the fleet of boards and maintaining exceptional levels of fleet utilisation.
Under the leadership of Mark, Simon and the company’s excellent management team, the business has established a strong reputation in the market as a result of Grassform’s scale and quality of supply, speed of deployment, highly efficient, reliable delivery, installation and removal solutions.
NPK provides comprehensive temporary site access solutions, including the manufacture, sale and rental of heavy-duty composite matting products. NPK operates across the United States and internationally, including through an existing presence in the UK. The acquisition of Grassform represents a highly significant expansion of NPK’s UK operations.
Crowe's role and team
The Crowe team of Matteo Timpani, Connor Tostevin and Patrick Payne acted as lead advisers to the shareholders of Grassform, with tax advice provided by Trevor Ling and Jack Power.
Client quote
"When you have been in business for a long time and it’s time to pass on the reigns you need to make sure the team selling your business is good - the Crowe Team of Matteo Timpani, Conner Tostevin and Patrick Payne were better than good, they were outstanding! At the very start Matteo and his team explained in plain English what to expect, when to expect it and how to deal with issues at every step of the process. Whenever problems arose the Crowe team resolved the issues. Matteo was on it, dealing with it and finding a solution for us.
The tax advice from Crowe’s Trevor Ling and Jack Power was exceptional and made the process easy to understand and follow.
Having built the business from nothing to a multi-million pound operation we are pleased to hand it over to the new owner who will take it to the next level. The Crowe team identified the right buyer fit for the company’s progression and has achieved a transaction beyond our expectations ensuring our workforce will remain intact and trading well into the future. We cannot praise Crowe highly enough, well done gents, you were outstanding!"
Mark Dunning, Managing Director, Grassform Plant Hire Limited.
