Small Buyout House of the Year
Foresight Group
Over the chosen period, Foresight has significantly extended its regional footprint by raising a new fund in Northern Ireland, being appointed as the fund manager of the Investment Fund for Wales by the British Business Bank and holding additional closes in Foresight’s North West, North East and Ireland-focused funds that focus on local SME investments. Foresight’s Private Equity division increased its AUM to over £1.6bn and deployed c.£115m across 73 SMEs making it one of the most active investors in the UK market.
In addition, Foresight Private Equity completed 18 exits returning c.£160m at an average of 2.3x MoM, including notable exits from Specac (10.3x MoM), ABL Health (4.1ox MoM) and ONFAB (3.2x MoM).
Foresight’s private equity team focuses on supporting SMEs in underserved areas of the U.K., and has a nationwide network of offices. Foresight has recently opened office spaces in Cardiff, Belfast and Dublin, developing local teams that build relationships within the local business communities. This investment strategy generates an economic development within the region, creating high-quality jobs that power tomorrow’s economy. So far, Foresight’s regional funds have created over 2,800 high quality jobs.
FPE
FPE is a specialist private equity investment firm focused on scaling ambitious software, software services, and data companies. We invest £5-30 million behind companies in the UK and Ireland with proven, profitable business models, that are ready for accelerated growth.
Following the successful raise of FPE Fund III in May 2022, we have remained an active software investor, completed six platform investments and deployed approximately 55% of our commitments by June 2024. These investments include Egress Group, Dynamic Planner, Global App Testing, 15gifts, NoBlue2, and Vanda Research.
Between July 2023 and June 2024, we formed NoBlue2 by leading the synchronous buyouts of Netsuite partners NoBlue and Elevate2, followed by acquiring BrightBridge Solutions. This created the leading UK Netsuite Solution Provider, enhancing their offerings to over 400 customers. Additionally, we acquired a majority stake in Vanda Research, a leading provider of research and data products for institutional investors, attracted by its growth potential and market demand.
Our portfolio companies completed six bolt-on acquisitions, reflecting our commitment to scaling innovative companies. With an average organic revenue growth of 30%, our portfolio consistently outperforms the market.
From a team perspective, we promoted Chris Kay to Partner and Harriet Hunt and Claire Sweet to Investment Director, highlighting our commitment to developing and promoting internal talent.
Kester Capital
This has been a year of exceptional performance and growth for Kester Capital. Despite well-documented market headwinds, Kester successfully raised its third fund – Kester Capital III – which was oversubscribed and closed at its hard cap of £200m in Mar-24, more than doubling the size of Kester Capital II (final close in August 2020). Alongside fundraising, Kester has completed two new platform investments* and 4 strategic bolt-ons, finishing the period with a total of 6 completed deals.
The continued growth of Kester Capital comes on the back of a series of successful exits, including the sale of Jollyes (Mar-24), which delivered a return of 4.3x MM and an IRR of 30% and Atec (Jun-24)**. Atec represents Kester’s eighth consecutive exit that has delivered a return of >3x, and the fourth consecutive exit >4x.
During the year, Kester Capital also announced the establishment of a charitable foundation, The Kester Foundation, which will receive 10% of the carried interest generated by Kester Capital III. The foundation will use its capital to support a range of charities and not-for-profit organisations initially focussing on the following causes: social mobility and medical/scientific research.
*The Boundary completed 17th July 2024
**It was agreed the ROI and EV would not be publicly disclosed
Voting Closed
To find out who won, book a table at the Mergermarket British Private Equity Awards on 01 October 2024, by contacting Chris Coe.