Private Equity
Insights
SME
Video
3 minutes
27/01/2020
Foresight backs 23 new SMEs during 2019 - Private Equity Year in Review
It has been another busy and successful year at Foresight and we wanted to share some of our Private Equity team's most defining moments of 2019.
It has been another busy and successful year at Foresight and we wanted to share
some
of our Private Equity team's most defining moments of 2019.
We
have
made a total of 45 new and follow-on investments across the UK, deploying close
to
£75 million of capital into a diverse range of businesses on behalf of our
institutional and retail investment funds. Our current portfolio now stands at
more
than 90 companies, having backed 23 new companies during the year. We
successfully
sold three businesses, the highlight being the sale of Mercia Power, which
returned
3.8x to our investors.
We have also continued the roll out of our
regional strategy, identifying funding gaps and those regions where investment
has
traditionally been lacking, offering not only funding but also business support
for
budding SMEs.
We have opened two new regional offices in Cambridge
and
Edinburgh to manage the £100 million Foresight East of England
Fund and £20 million Foresight Scottish Growth
Fund respectively and expanded our Private Equity team to 28 to
support
the deployment of these new regional funds. Our retail sales team also raised an
impressive £40 million during the year for our EIS and VCT funds.
In
2020, we expect the rate of deployment to continue whilst completing a number of
promising exits.
Behind every deal there lies a whole host of
stakeholders working hard to make it happen. We wanted to thank you for
partnering
with us in 2019 and look forward to working together again in 2020 and into the
new
decade.
NEW REGIONAL FUNDS
Foresight Scottish Growth Fund - £20 million
In
December
we announced the Foresight Scottish Growth Fund, a £20 million fund financed by
the
Scottish Growth Scheme through a combination of Scottish Government funds and
the
European Regional Development Fund, offering equity investments of up to £2
million
in deals up to £10 million.
To support the deployment of the Fund, we
established a local investment team based in our new George Street office in
Edinburgh, hiring Dan Halliday and Graeme McKinstry.
Foresight East of England Fund - £100 million
Created
to
invest in established companies with a view to assisting management teams with
their
growth ambitions, this £100 million Fund is a permanent pool of patient capital
targeting equity investments of between £1 million and £5 million into SMEs in
the
East of England and beyond.
The Fund is cornerstoned by
Cambridgeshire
Pension Fund, with the objective of providing long term value growth for
investors.
We have recruited Matt McLoughlin to support deployment of
this fund.
DEALS SINCE AUGUST
Roxy: £7.5 million
commitment into market-leading social entertainment group. Read the
announcement here.
Footfalls and
Heartbeats: Additional £749,000 investment into a developer and
manufacturer
of patented smart sensor fabrics. Read the announcement here.
AMT: £2.0 million
investment into developer of technology designed to unlock the potential of
industrial additive manufacturing. Read the announcement here.
Biotherapy
Services: £3.0 million into a biopharmaceutical company specialising in
regenerative medicine for the treatment of complex wounds. Read the
announcement here.
Promethean
Particles: £749,000 invested into a company specialising in the
manufacturing of nanomaterials. Read the announcement here.
Mixergy: £1.6 million
into
Oxford University spin-out set to revolutionise the global hot water tank market
and
reduce the cost of energy for consumers. Read the announcement here.
Novosound: £2.0 million
investment into novel thin film ultrasound technology company. Read the
announcement here.
For further information, please contact:
Email: info@fwdiscovery.co.uk
Phone: 020 3667 8100