Established in 1947, PSM supplies components and assemblies to the automotive, defence and aerospace industries, focusing on complex sheet metal components for the niche automotive sector. It operates from five sites having total floor space of around 85,000 ft2 and its customers include Aston Martin, Bentley, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lotus, Nissan and Volvo, plus other well-known blue-chip companies.
Backed by HSBC, Rubicon Partners bought the business from owner and managing director Stephen Payne. PSM’s existing management team has been strengthened with the appointment of Mark Barge as CEO of PSM. Barge, who was previously managing director of the Performance Products Division of Ricardo, is a qualified engineer and has considerable experience and knowledge of the UK low-volume performance automotive sector.
Rubicon Partners describes itself as a hands-on investment partnership focused on acquiring complex industrial businesses across Europe and North America, ranging in value from £15m to £250m. Rubicon has over 25 years’ experience investing in and supporting niche engineering and manufacturing businesses, with PSM being Rubicon’s 74th acquisition. The private equity group, which had some 340 employees during 2017, generated more then £32m of its £38m 2017 turnover in the UK
Other UK businesses in its portfolio include: Chard, Somerset-based Cerdic Foundries, the only Lloyds- registered UK foundry for compacted graphite cast iron; Exeter-based Goodridge, a world leader in fluid transfer systems; Stone, Staffordshire-based MGS Precision, a precision engineering company, whose Densamet tungsten-based parts are ubiquitous in aerospace, motorsport and nuclear energy sectors; Romford, Essex-based XCEL Aerospace, a precision machinist serving the aerospace sector; Farsound Aviation, also of Romford, which specialises in the supply of C-Class, B-Class and other fast-moving consumable parts to the aero-engine sector, supporting MRO operations; Aberdeen-based Fibron, a designer and maker of safety critical subsea umbilicals and cables for the oil and gas sector; and North Lincolnshire-headquartered Stylex, which designs and makes interior trim solutions, plus accessory mats and seat protectors for automotive, leisure vehicle and marine sectors.
