Funeral firm Jennings is sold to consortium for £37m

A funeral company which runs dozens of well-known branches across the region has been sold for £37.5m to a consortium of private equity investors.

LM Funerals, owner of Jennings outlets in the Black Country, is the third largest funeral company in Britain. It runs more than 60 branches mainly in the Midlands and South East.

The consortium, led by Duke Street Capital, has bought LM, of St James Street, from Sovereign Capital. The sale includes nine Jennings in the Black Country, including one in Wolverhampton.

This is as well as six William H Painter branches in Birmingham and five Henry Ison branches in Coventry.

Kevin Whittle, partner at Sovereign, said: "The funeral market includes a large number of family-run businesses, many of which have been passed through the generations.

"Sovereign has provided these firms with the opportunity to grow locally while enjoying the full support and resources of a larger, integrated group."

LM Funerals was established back in September 2003.

Of the 65 branches it runs, all continue to trade under their original names and often still involve their original owners.

Most of the branches have been trading for many years, some since the 19th century.

One of those, Jennings Funeral Directors, was established in 1848.

The family firm was founded by George Jennings, a woodworker and craftsman in Union Mill Street, Wolverhampton, who undertook his first funeral at the request of a close family friend. Lichfield funeral firm FM & J Watt was bought by LM in 2010.

Deborah Kemp, who has been the chief executive of LM since 2010, will continue to run the business under Duke Street Capital's ownership.

More than 60 per cent of the £1.5 billion funeral services market is run by 2,500 independent operators.

Jennings Funeral Directors is a member of the National Association of Funeral Directors.