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Bulgin
Bulgin is a leading manufacturer of environmentally sealed high-performance engineered solutions.
Founded in 1923, Bulgin has a well-established brand and a strong reputation for product quality and reliability with its global customer base of over 75,000 end-users across a wide range of industries including industrials, electronics, transportation and infrastructure, and medical technologies.
Connectors and switches are essential components that are used in almost all electronic equipment. Connectors provide a path for voltage, data, currents or signals to flow between wires, cables and electronic components, while its switches control the transmission. Bulgin’s products are environmentally sealed and typically used in harsh environments where they can withstand extreme conditions.
Headquartered in Cambridge, in the UK, Bulgin employs 680 people across its operations in Tunisia, Africa, Santa Fe Springs, California, USA and a presence in the APAC region.
VALUE CREATION
Equistone has worked alongside the management team to grow the business organically, principally through increasing share of wallet at existing customers, new distributor wins, accelerating new product development and enhancing the product mix with greater focus on higher margin connectors (up from 43% to 59% of gross profit). Additionally, Bulgin was able to implement strategic initiatives, which included:
- Operational transformation – closure of the UK manufacturing facility, alongside a £4m investment in a new site in Tunisia to consolidate all group operations.
- A new UK headquarters in Cambridge incorporating an R&D centre with an expanded team of design engineers to support a growing system design business (increasing from 4 to 20 engineers).
- Strengthening of the management team with the appointment of a new CFO, Distribution Director and sector-focused Non-Executive Director.
- Implementing a new data analytics platform to drive greater customer insight and sales.
THE EXIT
Equistone sold its Fund VI investment in Bulgin to Infinite Electronics, Inc., a global portfolio of leading in-stock connectivity solution brands.
HOLDING PERIOD
Sep 2019 - Jan 2023
Country
UK
Sector
Industrials
Revenue Progression
£30m / £46m
Employees at ACQ.
682
Investment Type
Primary MBO / Carve-out
We are proud to have worked with John and his team over the last three years to support Bulgin’s continued growth and development of a strongly differentiated market position. The business has an excellent brand and is well-positioned for the future. We wish the team well on the next stage of their journey with Infinite Electronics, Inc., under whose ownership we expect they will continue to thrive in attractive global markets.
