Phoenix announces the sale of Signum Technology

July 11, 2019

Phoenix is pleased to announce that it has sold Signum Technology, a portfolio company in its 2010 Fund, to Trelleborg, the publicly-listed international engineering group. Signum’s shareholders were advised by KPMG.

Signum Technology is an industrial technology business focused on safety critical flow control solutions for the global energy sector. From its three UK operating locations, Signum designs, manufactures and supplies products and services used worldwide in the safe transfer of oil and gas.

Signum has four divisions: Gall Thomson whose primary focus is on Marine Breakaway Couplings (MBCs); KLAW Products which designs and assembles its own range of couplings for the safe transfer of hazardous and non-hazardous materials; KLAW LNG, with a particular expertise in Liquefied Natural Gas; and VeeBee, which focuses on pipeline filtration technology and on a variety of end markets.

Signum is led by David Hill, CEO. Since joining the business in 2016, David and his team have developed and grown the business to great effect: Signum has invested successfully in R&D resulting in the commercial introduction of new products; it has preserved and strengthened its dominance within the MBC segment and has established a worldwide network of product service centres; it has established a technology leadership position in the fast growing LNG market; the group has invested consistently in new manufacturing equipment and capability; and it has restructured its manufacturing operations into a hub and spoke model. Signum more than doubled in size during the period of Phoenix’s ownership.

Hugh Lenon, Partner at Phoenix, said: “We thank David Hill and all of the team at Signum who have driven the development and growth of the business so effectively. They have done an outstanding job and we wish them every success in future”.

David Hill, CEO at Signum Technology, said: “I would like to thank Phoenix for their support for me, for my team, and for Signum which has been transformed under their ownership. We now look forward with real excitement to working with Trelleborg, a business with a strong heritage in flow control products and with global reach”.