£60m Dyno-Rod sale falls through

The £60m (€89m) sale of British plumbing company Dyno-Rod collapsed after potential buyers failed to agree a deal, it emerged tonight.

Representatives of a new group set up to acquire Dyno-Rod said its 74-year-old owner, former airline pilot Jim Zockoll, decided not to go ahead with the sale even though all his terms had been met.

The investors had planned to raise £47.5m (€70.8m) towards the purchase through floating the group on the London stock market.

But this was postponed yesterday after the team failed to reach a deal with Mr Zockoll, and it then emerged today that the sale had fallen through.

Stockbroker Seymour Pierce, managing the deal for the investors, said: “We are hugely disappointed that despite the enormous efforts of the management team and the advisers to meet the asking price, the vendor has decided not to proceed even though his terms were met.”

No one from Dyno-Rod was available for comment tonight. A spokesman for Seymour Pierce said he did not have any information on why Mr Zockoll had walked away.

The American citizen revealed last month that he planned to sell Dyno-Rod to management buy-in vehicle Dyno.

The former pilot, who owns 85% of the company, has seen the business grow from a single operation to a nationwide company since founding it as a plumbing firm in Wimbledon in 1963, during his spare time while working as a pilot for Pan Am.

The Surbiton, south London-based company is now a 167-strong franchise operation offering services ranging from emergency plumbing and locksmith services to pest control.

As well as domestic customers, it provides services to a range of corporate clients, including British Gas and housebuilders Barratt and Taylor Woodrow.

It had been due to float on London’s Alternative Investment Market.