Pelican Healthcare

Take two successful healthcare companies, complementary products, positive chemistry and perfect timing and what’s the prognosis? A quick and painless deal, completed in the space of three months.

Pelican Healthcare, a Cardiff-based manufacturer of medical products, had enjoyed substantial growth and was ready to form a key part of a bigger structure. This objective was achieved with the sale of a majority stake to the Northern Ireland company T G Eakin Ltd.

Both Eakin and Pelican are successful, high-quality manufacturers of specialist medical devices. Eakin is globally renowned for a specific niche product used in stomacare and woundcare, whilst Pelican has a wider product range relating to stomacare and examination devices.

The transaction presented clear opportunities for both companies. Eakin was keen to develop the company and exploit worldwide markets by including a broader range of products in its portfolio – and Pelican’s complementary product range offered opportunities to diversify. Conversely for Pelican, there was an opportunity to develop worldwide sales, by manufacturing products which could then be sold using the established Eakin brand.

Clearwater Corporate Finance advised Pelican’s shareholders and led the negotiations with Eakin, which involved securing a competitive price and agreeing the sale structure.

There was a clear rapport between the companies from the outset, and having a high level of common ground enabled Pelican and Eakin to enmesh successfully. A pre-requisite of the deal was to retain Pelican’s managing director and financial director, and help support continued business expansion. So Howard Clark and Nigel Jones stayed at the helm, retaining a 10 per cent stake in the new company.

Commenting on Clearwater's involvement, Clark said:

“Clearwater has an up-to-date understanding of expectations in current deals. They gave us benchmarks of what is and isn’t reasonable. This assistance was invaluable in protecting the interests of Pelican’s owners.”

Post-transaction, the management team reported that the handover had been so smooth, that staff had hardly noticed any changes – creating an auspicious start to the partnership.