AFA International
We are supporting AFA to become a leading international forensics, criminal justice and security provider, supporting public and private clients both at home in the UK, and abroad.
Sector
Business Services
Date acquired
September 2020
Deal type
Private sale
Website
Status
Unrealised
Location
London, UK
Overview
AFA is formed of two businesses; FAL Group (FAL), one of the UK's Top 5 providers of analytical services to the legal, policing and clinical sectors, through toxicology, forensic services and digital and cyber investigations; and TAG International (TAG), a leading international development specialist, supporting governments around the world create national security strategies for climate emergencies, cybersecurity, rule of law.
Limerston was introduced to the platform entity’s owner-management teams (for FAL and TAG) in early 2020 through existing relationships, and went on to create an exciting vision for the future value creation opportunity to collectively accelerate growth. We entered an off-market process directly with the founders/senior leadership and executed a management buyout later in 2020.
What we are doing
Working with the management teams at FAL and TAG, we have supported them in the identification, execution and integration of five bolt-on acquisitions to date. For FAL, this has added specialisms in toxicology (ASI Ltd), anthropological and ecological forensics (Alecto Forensics), and geographical reach for digital & cyber investigations (IntaForensics and Faraday Forensics). For TAG, it has brought funding diversification, bringing access to USAID frameworks and broader UK government department funding, as well as thematic expansion in national security and resilience, notably in national cyber strategy building (Torchlight Group Ltd).
Our Limerston operating partners have been aiding management with selection of key management positions within the group; CEO (for FAL and TAG), COO (for FAL and TAG) and CFO (FAL), as well as with the longer term succession planning.
Through Limerston investment and our technology operating partner, we have been working with an outside partner and the internal management teams to implement a group wide ERP system covering finance, CRM, people, and timesheets and expenses to bring greater clarity to the management teams of their operations and performance.
10,000+
Prosecution and defence cases supported
3
Add-ons - expanding areas of expertise and funding diversification
90+
International capacity building programmes delivered