Buyouts, venture funds and bookshops
This week on the Rainmakers platform - plus a special subscriber offer
Hello,
Thank you for signing up to Rainmakers. We’re thrilled that this week we passed the 500 subscriber mark.
This is our weekly round up for anyone who’s signed up for a trial, or alerts.
We hope you like what you see. Below we’ll share a few stories from this week and links to the subscriber content.
We try and give you lively takes on deals stories, bring to life stories and people behind the processes, rather than just bland quotes that everyone is, to use a banned word on here, “delighted” (ugh).
I hope you enjoy it and that you all have a relaxing bank Holiday weekend.
Praetura directors chip in on first VCT raise
This week we also reported that the directors of Praetura stumped up to make sure their first listed venture capital trust got away.
The Praetura Growth VCT PLC sought to raise £10 million in June 2023, with a minimum lower subscription amount set at £3 million (net of offer cost).
However, in a filing to the London Stock Exchange this week (22 May 2024) it was revealed that of the £3m raised, 53.34% of the money was sourced from “relevant persons”, who are connected to Praetura as the investment manager, either as shareholder, directors or through being closely connected with shareholders in the company.
In the filing Praetura has agreed with the Takeover Panel that those “relevant persons” are acting “in concert” and are therefore referred to as the “Praetura Concert Party”.
They include Praetura founders David Foreman and Peadar O’Reilly, and Linda Caunce, the wife of Steve Caunce, a major backer and shareholder of the investment business since its inception.
A statement from Praetura said: “The Praetura directors had always planned to make up a significant portion of the initial VCT raise as was highlighted in the VCT’s Prospectus at launch. Our commitment to the VCT is in line with the investment made in our first EIS fund in 2019. We believe that supporting our investment offers with personal capital demonstrates our confidence in delivering returns and provides a strong alignment of interests with our external investors.
“Our focus now is to build on this momentum following the listing of the VCT, build an initial investment portfolio and grow the size of the VCT. Since launching our first EIS fund less than 5 years ago, we’ve raised over £100m of EIS capital. Our BR qualifying offer, launched in 2021, has now raised over £35m in under 3 years and we expect a similar trajectory for our VCT.
“Launching the Praetura Growth VCT plc is the next step in our strategy of backing the best businesses from the North of England and beyond. We’re excited to make our initial investments from the VCT in the coming months.”
Last week directors from Praetura were at the London Stock Exchange to participate in the market closing following the first allotment of shares.
Sam McArthur, Partner at Praetura Investments, said then: “After 13 years of successful investing in EIS-qualifying companies, the launch of Praetura Growth VCT was largely driven by demand from financial advisers looking for another way to access alternative investments with Praetura.
“A new VCT is extremely rare, with very few launched over the last decade. The launch underlines the strength of our differentiated proposition with a focus of investing in scale-up companies in the North of England where there is a significant opportunity for investors.”
David Foreman, managing partner and founder of Praetura Ventures said on LinkedIn: “This was a pretty cool moment… thanks to all the advisors and the team internally that worked so hard to bring this to life. And thanks also to the investors who entrusted us with their capital.”
“You should write a book about this”
This week on Rainmakers I shared the story about my chat with Jeremy Cole, the corporate financier and adviser, owner of his own boutique practice, Cole Associates, who revealed to me that he’s writing a book on everything you ever wanted to know about buying and selling a business but were afraid to ask.
I’ve known him for almost 25 years, but not well. In all that time he’s been involved in the membership group pro Manchester and we always say hello to one another and have a handshake if we pass each other in the street, but we probably haven’t spent enough time together.
I recall that he was working for Stockport accountancy firm Hurst when I first met him, and he spent a short period at TMG, which he didn’t enjoy quite as much, and set up Cole Associates in 2002.
It’s primarily a sell-side firm, advising owner managed businesses on disposals, or on growth capital and refinancing.
His sweet spot is a management buyout, he says with a smile:
“I love a good MBO. It’s not good for recurring income, but it gives you a very grateful client. And in our game, referrals are everything to build our reputation.”
It’s a lovely interview, full of insights and wisdom.
I’d like to do a few more of these around the North, in order to tap in to the wisdom and experience of some of the people who’ve been around a while.
Click the button to read the full piece.
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On the fundraising tour bus with Mick Foster and GigPig
Mick Forster gets the whole vibe of music, entertainment and artists. His Dad was an agent.
The genial Geordie followed that same path. He managed one of the best known comedians of the last twenty years, but because I’m a pussy cat, and he asked me not to say who it is, I won’t.
This week on Rainmakers I spoke to him about tech platform GigPig, which looks to apply a bit of smart tech to the process of venues booking artists, bands, and DJs.
You can read that piece by clicking on the button below.
He was at Manchester Cathedral this week (far right of the photo, below) for a special gig featuring some of the artists on the platform.
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Next week on Rainmakers
“It was lovely to return to Addleshaw Goddard in Manchester recently for their very first alumni celebration reunion.”
So said the main who is likely to the Business Secretary of the next Labour government in a few weeks, the MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, Jonathan Reynolds.
He was working at Addleshaws as a trainee solicitor when he was selected to stand for his home seat of Stalybridge and Hyde in 2010, after James Purnell stood down.
“It was therefore an honour to return to the stomping ground that shaped me, this time as Shadow Business Secretary.
”I'm proud that Labour has a detailed industrial strategy and plan for growth that will support not just the legal and professional services sectors, but all the wider businesses that form their client base, too.”
So next week I’ll drill into Labour’s moves on the Rainmakers community. The breakfasts, the briefings, the warnings and the tenor of the conversations, and what tax and regulation change we can expect.
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OUR NEXT RAINMAKERS EVENT
Our next Rainmakers lunch will feature special guest Ruth Percival, above, CEO of Contollo Group, a buy and build consultancy group backed by private equity investor NorthEdge, a deal that also made the shortlist for this year’s Rainmakers awards.
We’re giving subscribers to Rainmakers discounted tickets for this event, which you can register for here by using the discount code: SUBSCRIBER5
As she embarks on this new venture, this seasoned leader with extensive expertise in the corporate finance, power/energy, and healthcare sectors, will share her strategic ambitions for Contollo and the lessons learned from her impressive track record of leading multi-disciplinary teams across diverse professional service disciplines including commercial/sales and operational/service delivery roles.
She describes her leadership as values-driven, emphasizing integrity, kindness, and collaboration.
Her latest venture, Contollo is a progressive new consultancy that works with commercial developers to offer consulting services in Cost Management and MEP, with particular expertise in smart buildings.
As reported on TheBusinessDesk.com at the time, Contollo made its first acquisition in February 2024 to acquire Abacus, a Manchester-based cost management consultancy which has worked for Vita Student Living, Sunderland AFC and Bolton Wanderers FC.
Contollo sees Ruth once again working alongside entrepreneur Oliver Dennis, as she did at medcomms consultancy group Fishawack.
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