The Enact Fund, managed by Leeds-based private equity firm Endless, has completed two acquisitions over the festive season.
It follows a busy period marked by the exits of Realise Training Group and Greenray Turbine Solutions.
Enact has acquired GEO Specialty Chemicals UK. (GEO), a Southampton-headquartered manufacturer of specialty chemicals from its US parent CPS Performance Materials Group.
GEO operates from a 53-acre site which is home to two distinct business units with global scale and advanced expertise in alkoxylation, methacrylate chemistry and specialty silicones serving markets across coatings, lubricants and medical devices.
The business has annual revenues of around £68m and its site’s heritage dates back to the 1950s.
GEO was considered non-core to its parent’s strategy. The investment from Enact will provide the business with the capital to invest in operations and strategic support to accelerate growth.
Simon Haythornthwaite, managing director of GEO, said: “Despite well-documented challenging market conditions there are some exciting growth opportunities in the niche, high specialty markets we operate in.
“Partnering with Enact provides us with the stability and expertise needed to move onto our next chapter.”
Paul Denvers, partner at Endless, said: “We look forward to working closely with Simon and the management team to support their growth strategy and help the business fulfil its true potential.”
The acquisition of Geo was supported by Walker Morris (Legal), KPMG (Tax) and Grant Thornton.
The second acquisition by the Enact Fund is Par-Pak Europe and Holfeld Plastics, together trading as Waddington Europe.
Waddington Europe has been acquired from a US-headquartered group in a corporate carveout.
Operating from three sites across the UK and Ireland, Waddington Europe is a £66m turnover sustainable packaging specialist supplying into sectors including food, pet food, medical and industrial.
Its diverse blue-chip customer base includes major supermarkets and food service providers across the UK and Europe.
Enact’s investment is accompanied by experienced packaging specialists who will join the Board to support the existing management team
Kiran Reddy, Enact associate director in Manchester who led the investment, said: “Waddington Europe has developed long-standing partnerships with key customers and suppliers.
“We are excited to support management with their plans to build on these relationships. I look forward to the start of 2026 as plans are finalised to support customers ahead of the peak summer trading period.”
Enact was advised by the Manchester-based teams of DLA Piper (Legals), K3 Capital Group (Financials and Tax) and Kroll (Property).
Chris Cormack, managing partner of Enact, added: “We ended 2025 on a high with the successful exits of Realise and Greenray alongside the strategic acquisitions of GEO and Waddington Europe.
“These investments, following the recent acquisition of the hire division from listed parent HSS Hire Group, underline the Fund’s continued focus on being a good home for corporate carveouts from larger parent groups and listed entities.”
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