Canal & River Trust finalises sale of BWML

The Canal & River Trust has finalised the sale of its wholly-owned marina subsidiary, BWML, in a transaction that sees Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) invest in the business, supporting the existing management team.

Stuart Mills, Chief Investment Officer at the Canal & River Trust, says: “We are delighted to have completed the sale of BWML and will be investing the proceeds into other income-generating assets to support our core work of caring for the nation’s canals and rivers.

“BWML is performing well and we believe its prospects for future growth are good. Coupled with the expertise of LDC we believe the business will benefit and, by extension, its boating customers will too.”

LDC is the UK’s leading mid-market private equity investor. It is committed to backing ambitious management teams from companies across the UK and has a portfolio of 90 businesses across a broad range of sectors.

Chris Wright, Director at LDC in the South, says: “We are excited to be able to provide the investment to support BWML’s management team in growing this established brand in order to enrich the experience of its marina users. With our support, management will focus on delivering improvements across the marina sites and add new locations to further strengthen its brand and market position.”

Jeff Whyatt, Managing Director of BWML, says: “We have always operated as a commercial entity and have strived to deliver the best possible experience to our customers who visit and reside in our marinas. In LDC we have found a partner that is willing to invest in the management team and site network which will benefit from new and improved facilities to the benefit of our growing customer base.”

The deal was completed on 03 January 2019.