York­shire (UK) — IK Part­ners (“IK”) has acqui­red a mino­rity stake in A‑SAFE through its IK Part­ner­ship II (“IK PF II”) fund. A‑SAFE is a global leader in the deve­lo­p­ment, manu­fac­ture and distri­bu­tion of indus­trial poly­mer safety barrier systems. IK acqui­red its stake from the Smith family, which remains heavily inves­ted. This is the last invest­ment of the IK PF II fund, which is now fully inves­ted. — The finan­cial terms of the tran­sac­tion were not disc­lo­sed. IK Part­ners was advi­sed on this tran­sac­tion by DC Advisory.

A‑SAFE was foun­ded in 1984 and is head­quar­te­red in York­shire, UK. The company manu­fac­tures a wide range of poly­­mer-based products that are used in facto­ries and warehou­ses around the world to protect both people and assets from colli­si­ons with vehic­les such as fork­lift trucks. The company employs over 700 people, over 80 of whom work in rese­arch and development.

As a foun­­der-led company, A‑SAFE has achie­ved signi­fi­cant orga­nic growth and today serves more than 6,000 custo­mers in over 50 count­ries. Its diverse custo­mer base includes some of the world’s largest compa­nies, inclu­ding Coca-Cola, UPS and Amazon. With the aim of further streng­thening its leading posi­tion in the field of indus­trial poly­mers world­wide, the company has deci­ded to enter into a part­ner­ship with IK.

With the support of IK and its dedi­ca­ted part­ner­ship fund, which focu­ses on mino­rity invest­ments in estab­lished, fast-growing compa­nies, A‑SAFE is poised for further growth. The manage­ment team, led by James and Luke Smith, is deligh­ted with the part­ner­ship with IK. Toge­ther, they want to tap into growth oppor­tu­ni­ties and drive inno­va­tion in order to rede­fine indus­try standards.

James and Luke Smith, Co-CEOs of A‑SAFE, said: “We are deligh­ted to be part­ne­ring with IK. This is an exci­ting oppor­tu­nity for us to conso­li­date our leading posi­tion in the market while expan­ding our global reach, enhan­cing our product offe­ring and incre­asing value for our custo­mers. With IK’s exper­tise and resour­ces, we are confi­dent that the company will conti­nue to grow and we look forward to working with Thomas and his team.”

Thomas Grob (photo © ik part­ners), Part­ner at IK and advi­sor to the IK Part­ner­ship II Fundadded: “A‑SAFE’s expan­sion into new markets and product segments and its commit­ment to inno­va­tion have firmly posi­tio­ned the company as an indus­try leader in work­place safety, secu­rity and effi­ci­ency systems. The company’s ability to anti­ci­pate market needs, coupled with outstan­ding products, has inspi­red great confi­dence in the manage­ment team and its capa­bi­li­ties. We look forward to working with James, Luke and their team over the coming years.”

About A‑SAFE

A‑SAFE was foun­ded in 1984 and is head­quar­te­red in York­shire (UK). A‑SAFE is a leading manu­fac­tu­rer and distri­bu­tor of indus­trial poly­mer safety barrier systems. The company began as a specia­list in poly­ethy­lene extru­sion. Under the leader­ship of the founder’s two sons, James and Luke Smith, the stra­te­gic switch to strong poly­mer barriers took place in 2000. www.asafe.com.

About IK Partners

IK Part­ners (“IK”) is a Euro­pean private equity firm focu­sed on invest­ments in the Bene­lux, DACH region, France, the Nordics and the UK. Since 1989, IK has raised more than 14 billion euros in capi­tal and inves­ted in over 180 Euro­pean compa­nies. IK supports high-poten­­tial compa­nies and works with manage­ment teams and inves­tors to create robust, well-posi­­tio­­ned busi­nesses with excel­lent long-term pros­pects. www. ikpartners.com.