Maven provides M&A expertise to fast-track Crawford Scientific’s growth

At a glance

Maven partnered with Crawford Scientific to support an ambitious acquisition-led growth strategy, providing both the capital and expertise required to complete the company's first acquisition. During the investment period, turnover and headcount doubled, profitability almost trebled and the business successfully expanded its international reach before being acquired by a financial buyer, delivering a 4.5x return on Maven's original investment and optimising value for management.

Crawford scientific logo

Building on a strong market position

Crawford Scientific is the UK's leading independent supplier of chromatography products and analytical services to the laboratory research and testing sectors. Combining operationally critical consumables with technical expertise, training, software and analytical services, the business provides an end-to-end solution for organisations operating complex laboratory environments.

Over almost three decades, founder Sam Crawford had built a highly respected business serving customers across the pharmaceutical, life sciences, environmental and industrial sectors. The company had developed a reputation for technical excellence and exceptional customer service, with clients including GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and BP.

By the time Maven was introduced to the business, Crawford Scientific was generating annual revenues in excess of £10 million and had established a strong position within its specialist market. However, management believed there was a significant opportunity to accelerate growth through acquisition.

"We were too conservative in our approach to acquisitions," says Sam Crawford, Founder and Managing Director of Crawford Scientific. "We knew what we wanted to achieve, but we didn't have experience navigating the M&A process, from valuation and financing through to integration. We recognised that we needed the right professional support to execute our ambitions successfully."

crawford-scientific-sam (1)

Why Maven invested

For Maven, Crawford Scientific represented an opportunity to back a proven management team operating within a resilient specialist market with clear opportunities for expansion.

The business had established strong market credentials, recurring customer relationships and a highly differentiated position built around technical expertise and customer service. Importantly, management had identified a clear acquisition opportunity that could materially enhance the scale and capabilities of the business.

Alongside providing growth capital, Maven's experience supporting acquisitive growth strategies offered management access to expertise across transaction execution, due diligence, financing and post-acquisition integration.

"The key factor in selecting a private equity partner came down to the people," says Sam. "David, who led the investment at Maven, had a scientific background and immediately understood our business, our customers and the market we operated in. That gave us confidence that Maven would be the right partner to help us execute our growth plans."

Location also played an important role. With a strong presence across Scotland, Maven was able to maintain close engagement with the management team throughout the investment period.

"Being local helped," Sam adds. "The Maven team were always available to discuss opportunities and challenges. They brought additional experience and perspective to the Board and helped strengthen our decision making as the business evolved."

Executing an acquisition-led growth strategy

Shortly after Maven completed a £3.9 million investment for a significant minority stake, attention turned to delivering the next phase of Crawford Scientific's growth strategy.

Management had identified Hall Analytical Laboratories as a highly complementary acquisition target. Having worked successfully with Hall over a number of years, the team recognised the potential to expand both the breadth of services offered to customers and the geographic reach of the business.

The acquisition added analytical services capability to Crawford Scientific's existing offering while creating opportunities to enter new markets across the United States, China and Europe. Hall's expertise in pharmaceutical, agrochemical and environmental analysis also strengthened the group's technical proposition and broadened its addressable market.

For management, successfully executing the acquisition required balancing transaction activity with the day-to-day operation of the business.

"The workload associated with making an acquisition was a barrier," says Sam. "We were committed to the strategy, but we also needed to ensure we had sufficient management bandwidth to complete due diligence, manage integration and continue running the business effectively. That's where Maven's expertise was so important."

Maven worked closely with management throughout the acquisition process, providing support across diligence, transaction execution and integration planning while helping finance the acquisition through one of its client-managed funds.

The integration was completed successfully, allowing management to quickly focus on maximising the growth opportunities created by the enlarged group.

"Maven's investment and guidance enabled us to deliver growth targets ahead of plan and ahead of timetable," says Sam

Value beyond capital

While the acquisition of Hall Analytical Laboratories represented a significant milestone, value creation extended far beyond the transaction itself.

Maven worked alongside management to strengthen the business, support operational development and provide strategic guidance as Crawford Scientific entered its next phase of growth.

The combination of expanded technical capability, broader geographic reach and continued organic growth across the distribution and knowledge transfer divisions created a significantly larger and more profitable business.

For Maven, the investment demonstrated the value of combining growth capital with practical transaction experience, helping management teams execute transformational growth initiatives while maintaining focus on day-to-day operations.

Delivering value through to eventual exit

Over the course of Maven's investment, Crawford Scientific delivered substantial growth. Turnover and headcount doubled, while profitability almost trebled through a combination of successful acquisition activity and strong organic performance.

Having achieved the objectives established at the outset of the investment, management and Maven agreed that the business was well positioned for its next stage of development. Corporate finance advisers were appointed to run a sales process, attracting interest from both trade and private equity buyers.

Following a competitive process, Crawford Scientific was acquired by Limerston Capital Partners, generating a 4.5x money multiple return on Maven's original investment.

The transaction marked the successful conclusion of a partnership that had transformed the scale and capabilities of the business while creating significant value for all stakeholders.

The impact of the investment has continued well beyond Maven's exit.

Since its acquisition, Crawford Scientific has continued to expand through both organic growth and further acquisitions. Today, the group comprises five companies, employs more than 200 people and has increased turnover by approximately 250% since Maven first invested.

"Maven's funding helped us enormously in growing and developing the business," says Sam. "They were pivotal in enabling us to get to where we are today and helped us mature as an organisation by ensuring we had the right infrastructure, processes and foundations in place for future growth."

Maven supports GEV's overseas expansion strategy enabling the business to scale and become a market leader in field rotor blade maintenance services.

Maven supports MBO and enables the business to complete the acquisition of a key customer to fulfil its growth ambitions.