We use cookies

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our website, to analyse our website traffic, and to understand where our visitors are coming from.

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

Primary logo
  • About
  • Team
  • Investments
  • ESG
  • News
  • Contact
  • Investor login

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary sells Metamark to UPM Raflatac
February 2025

Primary sells Metamark to UPM Raflatac

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Metamark achieves Ecovadis Bronze Standard
September 2024

Metamark achieves Ecovadis Bronze Standard

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

VJ Technology wins another award for its innovative VJ iStore®
August 2024

VJ Technology wins another award for its innovative VJ iStore®

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

New CEO Appointment at Metamark drives next phase of growth
January 2024

New CEO Appointment at Metamark drives next phase of growth

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary announces promotions
January 2024

Primary announces promotions

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Metamark acquires Fleet Design
November 2023

Metamark acquires Fleet Design

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary makes significant investment into Diversity Travel
September 2023

Primary makes significant investment into Diversity Travel

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

ASL Completes Seventh Acquisition
March 2023

ASL Completes Seventh Acquisition

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Sharples Acquired by ASL Group
February 2023

Sharples Acquired by ASL Group

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

ASL Group Completes Further Acquisition
September 2022

ASL Group Completes Further Acquisition

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary appoints new Chief Financial Officer
June 2022

Primary appoints new Chief Financial Officer

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Skill and You acquires ICS Learn
March 2022

Skill and You acquires ICS Learn

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Sells Readypower to Angel Trains
January 2022

Primary Sells Readypower to Angel Trains

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

ICS Learn Acquires Acacia Learning
January 2021

ICS Learn Acquires Acacia Learning

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Announces Two Promotions for the New Year
January 2021

Primary Announces Two Promotions for the New Year

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

ICS Learn Acquires Development Processes Group
October 2020

ICS Learn Acquires Development Processes Group

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Readypower Acquires RRV Assets of Holyrail
July 2020

Readypower Acquires RRV Assets of Holyrail

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

ASL Group Expands into the North West
February 2020

ASL Group Expands into the North West

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Backs the MBO of Foster+Freeman
August 2019

Primary Backs the MBO of Foster+Freeman

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Backed ASL Group Acquires Reprotec
July 2019

Primary Backed ASL Group Acquires Reprotec

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Backs MBO of ASL Group
June 2019

Primary Backs MBO of ASL Group

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

VJ Technology Acquires Mainline Products
May 2019

VJ Technology Acquires Mainline Products

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

New Board Appointment Drives Metamark International Expansion
November 2018

New Board Appointment Drives Metamark International Expansion

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Backs MBO of VJ Technology
June 2018

Primary Backs MBO of VJ Technology

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Backs MBO of ICS Learn
May 2018

Primary Backs MBO of ICS Learn

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Metamark acquires Trimwel
May 2018

Metamark acquires Trimwel

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

New Acquisition for Portfolio Company Readypower
December 2017

New Acquisition for Portfolio Company Readypower

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Welcome Futurist Ray Hammond to Cliveden House
October 2017

Primary Welcome Futurist Ray Hammond to Cliveden House

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Two New Senior Hires for Metamark
October 2017

Two New Senior Hires for Metamark

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Backs the MBO of Metamark
May 2017

Primary Backs the MBO of Metamark

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Hires new Investment Manager
May 2017

Primary Hires new Investment Manager

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Announces New Promotions
April 2017

Primary Announces New Promotions

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Awarded UK Mid-Cap Deal of the Year
April 2017

Primary Awarded UK Mid-Cap Deal of the Year

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Backs MBO of Readypower
February 2017

Primary Backs MBO of Readypower

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Sale of Leisure Pass Nominated as UK Mid-Market Deal of the Year
January 2017

Sale of Leisure Pass Nominated as UK Mid-Market Deal of the Year

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

David Richard Promoted to Assistant Director
January 2017

David Richard Promoted to Assistant Director

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Sells Leisure Pass Group
December 2016

Primary Sells Leisure Pass Group

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Sells Pacific Direct to ADA Cosmetics
September 2015

Primary Sells Pacific Direct to ADA Cosmetics

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary grows Manchester office with addition of Chris Hopwood
September 2015

Primary grows Manchester office with addition of Chris Hopwood

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Cutty Sark Among New London Pass Attractions for Summer 2015
March 2015

Cutty Sark Among New London Pass Attractions for Summer 2015

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Announces Sale of Amtech to Trimble
November 2014

Primary Announces Sale of Amtech to Trimble

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Backs Buy-Out of GatenbySanderson
November 2014

Primary Backs Buy-Out of GatenbySanderson

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Expands Team with New Partner Appointment
September 2014

Primary Expands Team with New Partner Appointment

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Exceeds Target for Fund IV
August 2014

Primary Exceeds Target for Fund IV

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Gothenberg City Card to Use Leisure Pass LPOS System
August 2014

Gothenberg City Card to Use Leisure Pass LPOS System

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary Expands Team with Appointment of David Richard
July 2014

Primary Expands Team with Appointment of David Richard

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers
April 2014

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Leisure Pass teams up with Gourmet Society to launch expanded London Pass Dining Guide
April 2014

Leisure Pass teams up with Gourmet Society to launch expanded London Pass Dining Guide

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Second Amtech BIM Conference another massive success
March 2014

Second Amtech BIM Conference another massive success

Primary awarded Mid-Cap Deal of the Year for sale of Napier Turbochargers

Leisure Pass Group joins up for New China Tourism Campaign
January 2014

Leisure Pass Group joins up for New China Tourism Campaign

Primary’s sale of Napier Turbochargers to NYSE listed Wabtec Corporation has been named Mid-Cap Deal of the Year at the 2014 Private Equity Awards hosted by Real Deals last week.  

Napier, which was acquired by Primary in June 2008 from Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Limited, a subsidiary of Siemens AG, generated an impressive return of 5.5x cost of investment for Primary. The deal was yet another high returning exit for Primary, with more than 50% of all Primary exits since inception having returned over 3.5x cost of investment.

When selecting the winner, the judges were specifically looking for evidence of the GPs role in helping to create value and contributing to the strategic development of the business and were impressed by the strategic repositioning Primary and management had undertaken following the acquisition. This included a complex separation of Napier from Siemens within the first 18 months of the transaction, which involved a complete physical separation with options which progressively allowed Napier to achieve a completely separate, stand-alone facility and to expand the factory footprint by over 70%; establishment from scratch of an entirely new, stand-alone IT and MIS infrastructure; and completion of a stand-alone management team.  

Significant investment was also made in re-establishing the 200 year old Napier heritage brand, opening new aftermarket service centres for the repair and service of turbochargers in new geographical locations to strengthen global coverage, and a doubling of R&D expenditure from that under Siemens ownership which accelerated the launch of a new product series incorporating ground-breaking technology which emphasised Napier’s technology leadership position in the market. In addition the engineering department was re-focussed on progressive launches of new, leading-edge products delivering improved performance to the customer. As well as delivering clear customer benefits, this also gave the opportunity to increase prices and margins for Napier. This also included the extension of the Napier product range into larger product sizes, a segment previously monopolised by ABB.

Following these measures, and others implemented by Primary during its ownership, Napier had been strategically repositioned to attract interest from international buyers, and a formal sale process was launched at the end of October 2012 and completed in January 2013 with a sale to Wabtec Corporation, the $5bn NYSE listed industrial conglomerate, for a price of $112.5 million.

 

Contact Neil Wallace for more information

Tel: +44 (0)20 7920 4800
Email: neil@primary.pe

overlay-loader
Primary logo dark
London Office
Primary Capital Partners LLP
Augustine House
Austin Friars
London
EC2N 2HA
Get directions
Manchester Office
Primary Capital Partners LLP
Clarence House
Clarence Street
Manchester
M2 4DW
Get directions
© 2025 Primary Capital Partners LLP | Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | Privacy policy | Terms of use | Cookie policy | Site plan | Change your cookie preferences
Design by WildWest