In a deal led by Reading based M&A Advisors EvolutionCBS, a majority shareholding in Wilcomatic Limited, one of the UK’s leading providers of vehicle and rail wash systems, has been acquired by WestBridge Capital.

Established in 1967, Wilcomatic supplies and supports vehicle wash systems to petrol forecourts and has contracts with all the UK’s major supermarket chains. Additionally, Wilcomatic is developing a strong presence in the UK commercial and international rail markets, supplying rail wash systems to rail depots in the UK and overseas. The business is widely viewed as a market leader in its niche sector.

WestBridge Capital is an award-winning private equity house that invests in established and ambitious UK companies with the potential to grow faster. As well as acquiring the majority shareholding in Wilcomatic, WestBridge has provided growth capital to support the company’s plans to double its estate (currently at 3,000 machines in the market) over the next 3 years.

EvolutionCBS Client Director, Steve Barry, led the deal and commented: “The opportunity to work with our clients at Wilcomatic and introduce them to Sandy and the team as WestBridge was a high point in an already outstanding year for EvolutionCBS. Finding the right partner to share in Kevin and Selwyn’s continued vision for the future was always going to be a critical step for a business with such enormous global potential, and in WestBridge we finally found just the team to help them deliver on that potential. We wish them every success for the future and will be watching with interest as their future plans continue to unfold.”

Sandy Smart, WestBridge Partner, said, “Wilcomatic is a long established, well-run business which enjoys strong relationships with an impressive blue-chip client base, at home and internationally. It is a market leader in its niche, yet we believe still has significant opportunity to expand its market footprint. We look forward to working with the team at Wilcomatic to exploit these opportunities and grow the business further.”

Selwyn Rodrigues and Kevin Pay, joint managing directors, will continue to lead the team at Wilcomatic and commented: “We are delighted to have partnered with WestBridge Capital. They quickly identified our market strengths and the quality of our income streams, particularly from contracted revenues. WestBridge will bring management experience, investment strength and a strong focus on achieving our ambitious growth plans.”

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