Global leader in the design and distribution of liquid storage solutions.
Western Global was founded in 1962 and had been run as a family business until 2014 when a new management team was appointed. During this phase, the business transformed its scale and profitability. By 2019, it had become clear that a sponsor was required to provide liquidity to the family shareholder base no longer in the business, put equity in the hands of the management team who had transformed the business, and help drive further penetration in the US market where the business had begun to have significant traction. After 18 months and staying in touch through Covid, MML invested alongside Clem and his team in early 2021. We are now working alongside the team to deliver their international growth plan, in particular leveraging our US presence to support greenfield expansion.
Fund | Partnership |
Region | Europe |
Deal Status | Current |
Sector | Industrials |
I came across Western Global in 2015 whilst working in Bristol. The business had developed a market leading product offering significant operational and environmental benefits and already had operations in North America from its family ownership. I felt there was a really exciting opportunity to help consolidate the business into a single group and drive international growth.
We were first introduced to MML in 2019 and it felt like a natural fit from the start. We wanted a UK partner who could help us unlock growth in the US and were really encouraged by how MML bought into our vision and their track record of supporting international expansion. We launched a formal process in March 2020, with MML one of the front runners. However, the pandemic had other ideas and we had to put our process on hold. Ultimately it was MML who stayed close to us through that intervening period and were out in front when we successfully relaunched our process in late 2020.
We are making significant progress. With MML’s support, we have been able to add significant sales resource across the US and we are in the process of opening three new delivery centres to reduce our lead times. Off the back of these investments and the general momentum in the business, we are trading significantly ahead of our year one plan.
A testimonial from Chris West, Safety Director of Brent Scarborough Co. explaining the merits of the Western Global Trans Cube.
For investors in MML Fund VI, MML Ireland I & MML Ireland II
For investors in MML Fund VII
