UK’s digital bank OakNorth provided a £7.5m loan to McAvoy, one of the UK and Ireland’s market leaders in the manufacturing and rental of premium modular buildings. The facility supports the business’ working capital requirements after its acquisition by European mid-market private equity firm, Duke Street, from Blantyre Capital this past month.
Founded in 1972, McAvoy designs, builds, and rents premium space solutions, ranging from “temporary modular buildings to fully permanent buildings.”
It has experience in supplying to the health, education, pharmaceutical, and commercial sectors throughout the United Kingdom as well as Ireland. It provides complete turnkey solutions that adhere to “the same regulations as traditional buildings but can be delivered up to 50% faster.”
Its modern, custom-built modules are typically more than 70% complete before leaving McAvoy’s “70,000 square-foot purpose-built manufacturing facility in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.”
This facility has the capacity to design and manufacture up to “1,200 modules annually, making McAvoy one of the largest modular building providers in the UK.”
While headquartered in Lisburn, McAvoy has over 160 employees across additional “offices in Dublin, Birmingham, Bristol, and London.”
Since 1997, Duke Street has invested more than €3 billion and made 60 investments across Europe, returning more than “25% IRR to its investors since inception through multiple economic cycles.”
Its investment strategy is concentrated “on four sectors: Consumer, Healthcare, Industrials & Engineering and Services, and it typically invests in companies with an enterprise value of between €50m and €350m.”
The buyout of McAvoy is the second acquisition by Duke Street in “social infrastructure, following its 2024 buyout of AGITO Medical.”
Joe Thompson, Partner at Duke Street, commented that OakNorth demonstrated a clear “understanding of McAvoy’s business dynamics and Duke Street’s growth strategy, which was crucial in ensuring a smooth and efficient process.”
The team brought a “commercial mindset and maintained momentum at every stage, balancing speed with careful structuring. We’ve appreciated Oaknorth’s collaborative approach and commitment to supporting McAvoy’s and Duke Street’s long-term success.”
Navin Dabasia, Debt Finance Director at OakNorth, continued by noting that McAvoy is “a high-quality business delivering essential infrastructure through a modern, capital-efficient model.”
They added that its pivot to rentals has been successful, “generating strong contracted cashflows, and the team’s manufacturing capability and sector alignment give them clear competitive advantages.”
In Duke Street, they have “a strong sponsor with a … track record of investing across the UK, Ireland, and mainland Europe.”
They are eager to “support Duke Street’s investment and back McAvoy’s next stage of growth.”