Kartesia provides senior financing solution to Beech Tree Private Equity-backed Obsequio Group
Kartesia, the European specialist provider of financing solutions for small and mid-sized companies, is pleased to announce its investment in Obsequio Group (“the Company”). This strategic partnership is set to fuel Obsequio Group’s ambitious buy-and-build strategy, further solidifying its position as a leading provider of safety and compliance solutions within the UK. This also represents Kartesia’s first deal with Beech Tree Private Equity, who invested in the Company in 2023.
Obsequio Group is a provider of mission-critical fire detection, safety, security and water hygiene solutions. The Company currently serves over three thousand public and private sector customers operating across a wide range of sectors including education, industrials and student accommodation. Additionally, Obsequio Group has a growing technology offering through its Drax Technology division, offering a range of innovative monitoring and detection technologies.
The financing provided by Kartesia will support Obsequio Group’s strategic growth initiatives, enabling further expansion through targeted acquisitions of established compliance technology businesses. The Company’s buy-and-build strategy focuses on broadening geographical coverage, enhancing service capabilities, and expanding market presence. Following investment from Beechbrook Capital in 2021, Obsequio Group has successfully acquired and integrated eight companies including Complete Detection Systems, Genex, Drax360, APS, Brunel and Bryland, all of which provide services to organisations across the UK.
This transaction is the 13th UK investment within Kartesia’s second-generation Senior Opportunities (“KSO II”) Fund, which held a successful final close of €1.8bn in June. The senior financing solution includes day one capital alongside additional committed facilities.
The deal team at Kartesia consisted of Nick Holman, Daire Creighan, Ana García-Vivancos and Tom O’Moore.
Daire Creighan, Associate Director at Kartesia, commented: “We are excited to partner with Obsequio Group and Beech Tree Private Equity to support the next chapter of their impressive growth story. As one of the UK’s fastest-growing founder-led companies, Obsequio Group has significantly expanded its service offerings and geographical presence, demonstrating a commitment to constant innovation and service quality in the fire safety and adjacent compliance sectors. Their impressive M&A and integration strategy has established Obsequio Group as a market leader across the UK in fire safety and compliance, and we look forward to supporting their ongoing growth”.
Simon Cashmore, CEO of Obsequio Group, commented: “From our very early discussions with Kartesia it was evident that there was strong alignment between our teams, complete buy-in to our strategy and a genuine interest and desire to build a detailed understanding of our business, all of which contributed to us selecting Kartesia as our preferred partner for the next stage of our journey. During the last 3 years we have successfully acquired and integrated a number of businesses into the group, and we are delighted to be able to confidently progress our strategy with the financial support of Kartesia, and indeed our partnership with Beech Tree Private Equity’’.
Ben Cartwright, at Beech Tree Private Equity, commented: “We’re delighted to have secured this financing package with Kartesia. This deal will not only enable Obsequio to accelerate its organic growth plans, but will also provide significant additional firepower to pursue other high quality compliance services and complementary technology acquisition targets. We have a clear plan to build Obsequio into the leading technology-enabled compliance services provider in the UK and I firmly believe that Kartesia’s support over the coming years will help us to achieve this”.