SPI Ltd

In December 2006, Lyceum Fund 2000 announced the acquisition of SPI Group (SPI), an independent regional property services provider focused on outsourced installation, repairs, maintenance and support services for the under-developed Social Housing sector.

SPI is market leader in the West Midlands, which is one of the larger Social Housing markets with some 500,000 homes operated and managed on behalf of eight local government authorities and housing associations. SPI has some 500 employees and sales in excess of �40 million.

The existing management and the founding Dillon family, which established SPI in 1966, will continue to retain a substantial minority shareholding in SPI. Steve Huxley, who was introduced to the transaction by Lyceum Capital, has joined the Business as CEO and works closely with the current Managing Director, Paul Dillon, and the other Directors to drive the next stage of SPI�s growth. Nick Badman has since joined SPI as Chairman and Nigel Seddon as SPI's FD. Lyceum Partners Dan Adler and David Harland have joined the Board.
The SPI transaction came about as part of a �market map� exercise initiated by Lyceum in late 2005 to identify opportunities around the Social Housing Sector in the UK. Lyceum worked closely with Steve Huxley in examining and approaching numerous market participants in the last year.

In November 2007, SPI acquired Octopus Electrical Limited for an undisclosed sum; Octopus serves a wide range of customers in the social housing sector across the Midlands, the West of England and Wales, through long-standing partnership and framework agreements.

Approximately five million homes in the UK are classified as Social Housing. The market is currently a fragmented and diverse market of public, private and not-for-profit asset management and services businesses; many of which are still owned or operated as part of local government infrastructure. The market is experiencing two strong growth drivers due to (a) a substantial increase in announced UK local government funding under the �Decent Homes Initiative� to upgrade social housing stock with total spend in each year to 2012 and beyond of some �10.5 billion annually and (b) a substantial increase in outsourcing of management, estate, property and related Social Housing services to the private sector.

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