Tenon Corporate Finance's Southampton-based team has successfully put together a deal to fund a management buy-in (MBI) at specialist scientific instrument manufacturers, Applied Kilovolts.

Tenon director Clive Hatchard put investors in touch with directors from the south coast company, which was looking for a new team to run the company.

"We have been working with Kevin for around five years, looking for the right investment opportunity for him," said Mr Hatchard.

"When we introduced him to Applied Kilovolts, he was immediately enthusiastic about the future potential of the business."

Tenon structured a deal which allowed the company's retiring directors to retain a 30 per cent equity stake in the business and finance the remaining investment through a combination of funding from Wheelhouse, the existing management team, and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

There will now be a transition period during which the founding director, Jim Hawkins, will work on a consultancy basis to ensure a smooth handover to the new team.

Clive Hatchard, director at Tenon Corporate Finance, said: "The fit between Kevin and Applied Kilovolts was just right and we are delighted to have been able to put together the deal so successfully.

"Applied Kilovolts has an excellent, strong management team, with a huge amount of technical expertise that the customers find highly reassuring. The deal we have put together reflects the strength of our new team and clearly demonstrates the synergy we are able to generate with our owner-managed, entrepreneurial customer base. We look forward to being able to offer further support and advice to Applied Kilovolts in the future as the business goes from strength to strength."