Sentio Partners have advised the Shareholders of Literacy Capital backed Tyrefix Group, one of the UK’s leading providers of tyre repair and replacement to the plant market, on its sale to Citira AB, a Northern European tyre management provider backed by private equity investor Norvestor.
Founded in 1984, Tyrefix has a UK-wide footprint, serving over 1,500 active customers from over 20 locations. In the five years since Literacy acquired a majority stake in Tyrefix, Management (lead by MD, Oliver Johnson and supported by Jon Pitman and Steve Bareham) has overseen a doubling of revenue, delivered through a combination of organic growth and acquisition.
Citira is a tyre management provider operating primarily across the Nordics and Poland, backed by Norvestor who acquired a majority stake in Citira in 2023. The acquisition of Tyrefix enables Citira to enter the UK market, with the existing Management continuing in their roles to further scale the business both organically and through acquisition.
Commenting on the acquisition, David Boman, CEO of Citira, said: “I am very happy to welcome Oliver, Jon, Steve and the entire Tyrefix team to Citira. Tyrefix’s model is unique and has shown great success during several decades, and still has potential for growth across current and new market segments.”
Oliver Johnson, CEO of Tyrefix, added: “Joining Citira allows Tyrefix Group to advance our already strong market position in off-highway tyre services, while providing additional solutions to minimise vehicle downtime. By becoming part of a larger organisation, Tyrefix gains access to additional resources and increased opportunities to accelerate our growth plans.”
Sentio Partners acted as lead adviser (Andrew Barlow and Joe Holt) to the Shareholders and Management.
Commenting on the transaction, Andrew Barlow of Sentio Partners said: “Tyrefix is a great example of a high-quality business that has been successfully professionalised and scaled under private equity ownership. Literacy has built a strong team that now has an exceptional platform in the UK – we look forward to seeing Tyrefix continue to grow as part of Citira.”
Joe Holt, Manager at Sentio Partners added “From our initial dialogue with Citira, the strategic rationale for the acquisition of Tyrefix was clear. It has been a pleasure to advise the shareholders on this transaction, which represents a clear opportunity for Oliver and the team to accelerate growth as part of a global organisation”
PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS
The Sentio team worked alongside Hogan Lovells (James Cross, James Scott, Seb Pell) as legal adviser and Marcussen (Georgina Heal, James Clothier) as tax advisers the Shareholders. Citira was advised by White & Case (legal adviser) and Deloitte (Financial & tax DD).
