CSL Group raises debt financing to support ongoing growth

Arrowpoint Advisory’s Debt Advisory team has advised CSL, a leading provider of critical Internet of Things (“IoT”) and machine-to-machine (“M2M”) connectivity solutions, on a debt raise to support ECI’s acquisition of the company.

The facilities were raised from Barings and NatWest, providing CSL with considerable flexibility to make strategic investments to drive growth both organically and by acquisition.

Founded in 1996, CSL is the UK market leader in providing critical machine-to-machine connectivity solutions across the Fire, Security and Telecare sectors and in Internet of Things applications. CSL has invested significantly to support its core Fire and Security customer base over the last 24 years, with the latest DualCom Pro range providing highly reliable and differentiated alarm signalling for commercial and residential premises. Additionally, the CSL Telecare range enables wireless connectivity services for vulnerable residents while CSL’s solutions also support multiple other critical connectivity applications.

CSL services over 1 million M2M/IoT devices and monitors 4 billion events through its platforms each month across the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and Ireland.

In recent years, CSL has grown both organically and through acquisition, having made four acquisitions since it was backed by ICONIQ, Norland and RIT in 2016, a transaction which Arrowpoint Advisory also advised on.

CSL CFO Tom Leigh said: “We very much enjoyed working with Neil and Alessandro at Arrowpoint and valued their advice and guidance through the debt financing process.  We are excited to have the support of Barings and NatWest to fuel our exciting growth plans alongside our new investors at ECI.”

Paul McCreadie, Partner at ECI, commented: “We are pleased that the debt market has recognized the exceptional resilience and fundamental strength of CSL’s business model, and thank the team at Arrowpoint for their continued support in executing this financing on highly competitive terms during a period of considerable macroeconomic uncertainty.  We look forward to working with Barings and NatWest as we support the management team at CSL in delivering the next phase of their growth strategy.”

Neil Smith, Managing Director and Head of Debt Advisory at Arrowpoint Advisory, concluded: “We are delighted to have supported ECI with their investment in CSL.  We are pleased to have arranged a very flexible debt package tailored to support both ECI and the management team's plan to grow the business to its full potential.”

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