Pulling every lever boost growth? Really?
Our weekly free round up of key deals and major moves in the Rainmakers world
Hello Rainmakers,
British Business Bank pumping £60m in to cornerstone NorthEdge’s fourth fund raised a few eyebrows this week.
The Chancellor Rachel Reeves even popped up in the coverage, describing it as evidence of how she’s pulling every lever to boost growth. Which will have been greeted with surprise in many quarters.
But, have you got any better ideas? We’ll open up that provocation to our Rainmakers Summit (discount code for Rainmakers readers below) and put it to the test.
Keep reading for our round up of noteworthy deals this week.
This is free to all who have signed up, however Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, and also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, and River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and LDC.
British Business Bank hands £60m to NorthEdge
When we worked with NorthEdge’s Lucie Mills, and others, to start our Rainmakers Summit two years ago, it was to assist in raising the status of native private capital funds, and showcase their contribution to the economic fortunes of the regions.
It was interesting to see the Chancellor Rachel Reeves endorse a new cornerstone commitment worth £60m from the British Business Bank into NorthEdge IV as a result of a changing of the bank’s new mandate, that makes it able to invest into private equity funds focused on backing smaller businesses.
Mills, who has taken an active role in the efforts by the private equity industry to lobby government, said the commitment alongside existing investors and Local Government Pension Schemes, means they can “deliver meaningful regional and economic impact.”
The bank says the new mandate will unlock scale-up capital and expertise for smaller businesses, particularly for those in the UK’s nations and regions.
Reeves said this is evidence of her “pulling every lever to boost growth”.
But what does that say about the bank’s confidence in the venture funds, liek Midlands Engine and NPIF?
This year the Rainmakers Summit will feature many debates around tech, AI, the future of the professions, sources of capital, the public markets, and we’re also going to issue some provocations on the best actions policy makers could take to encourage entrepreneurship and which levers to growth remain unpulled.
::
The biggest story north of the border this week though was BrewDog appointing consultancy AlixPartners to sound out the market for fresh investment or a sale.
The Ellon-based brewer has grown since foundation in 2007 to four breweries, 72 bars and around 1,400 employees worldwide, but a statement explained that the decision was taken to focus on “long-term strength and sustainably” as it operates “in a challenging economic climate”.
Rumours abound about how the business may be broken up, as well as the possibility of former chief executive and co-founder James Watt taking back over.
::
Subscribers to Rainmakers this week got two cracking articles. Peter Walker’s analysis of the dearth of IPOs in Scotland, and a profile of Peter Barkley from WestBridge on his career highlight (so far) of the 11x return on the sale of its investment in APEM, the environmental consultancy led by Leah McGimpsey.
::
Littlefish Group has cast its net wider, snapping up cyber security specialist Stripe OLT as it looks to scale up its end-to-end digital services offering.
The deal takes the combined workforce to around 900 and gives Nottingham-based Littlefish some extra bite in cyberspace, particularly across public sector and healthcare clients, where security scrutiny is anything but small fry.
Stripe OLT brings a shoal of Microsoft-focused cyber capabilities into the group, including a CREST-accredited security operations centre, threat detection and penetration testing services - meaning Littlefish customers get stronger defences without anyone rocking the boat.
Both businesses say it’s business as usual, just with more lines in the water, as Littlefish continues to bulk up its managed services and cybersecurity offering across the UK.
::
HSL Compliance has added a new string to its bow and a few extra noses after acquiring Enitial.
The deal brings more than 115 staff into the group, taking headcount past 900, and gives HSL a bigger presence in water, air and odour monitoring. Enitial’s management team remains in place, and it’s business as usual.
HSL says the move broadens its compliance offer, while Enitial reckons joining forces will help it cover more ground - literally - as the group continues its expansion.
::
Yorkshire continues to be a happy hunting ground for major foreign firms searching for an attractive acquisition opportunity. This week, Enrogen, an East Yorkshire-based maker of diesel generators, was sold to a private equity-backed Italian company seeking to power up its UK presence. It was acquired by Visa S.p.A. Visa manufactures the ONIS VISA generator brand, is based in Fontanelle in north east Italy, and is a portfolio company of international private equity business H.I.G. Capital.
Founded in 2005 by Gavin Wilkinson - with James Brown becoming an equal shareholder later that year - Enrogen designs, makes, installs and maintains generators for a variety of clients, including data centres and the construction and industrial sectors. Lorenzo and Marco Barro, co-CEOs of Visa, said the takeover further reinforces their business’s position in international markets, and described the UK market as “highly attractive” in terms of potential for expansion.
::
TheBusinessDesk.com is to stage its first South West Rainmakers networking lunch, offering a unique opportunity to hear from some of the leaders in the region’s corporate finance sector.
This event, at Harvey Nichols in Bristol on 25 March, will bring together the key players in the South West’s rainmaking community to discuss the opportunities in the regional deals market as well as celebrating recent successes.
Speaking at the event will be TheBusinessDesk.com’s South West Rainmaker of the Year, Momentum Corporate Finance partner Alastair Boorman, and Changemaker of Year, Carmen Peacock, head of South West & South Wales, corporate & institutional banking, at Lloyds.
The pair were presented with their awards at the inaugural South West Rainmakers Awards in November – an occasion that brought together nearly 250 of the region’s corporate finance community to showcase the best deals of the previous 12 months and the teams behind them.
Alastair and Carmen will be joined by other Rainmakers Awards winners to give attendees at the lunch a chance to catch up with the key players in the region’s corporate finance community.
::
The Rainmakers Summit on the 25th of March will feature a debate on the future of professional services as partners consider their next strategic options.
Featuring leaders of businesses who have chosen very different paths, and an investor in one of the consolidators driving the change across the sector, the debate will throw an intense focus on the stark choices that professional services firms face.
Making the case for independence will be Helen Clayton, managing partner at accountancy firm PM&M.
Telling the story about their respective lives on the public markets will be Rakesh Shaunak, CEO of MHA, and James Sheridan, head of M&A at Knights PLC.
Explaining the investment decision behind aggregation will be Matt Nicholson, investment lead at Tenzing, the private equity backer of accountancy consolidator DJH.
As a thank you for being part of our Rainmakers community, we are pleased to offer an exclusive 20% discount for the upcoming Rainmakers Summit on March 25th.
This is a unique opportunity to engage with industry leaders, gain insights, and connect with like-minded professionals.
As you can see the agenda features keynote speakers and exclusive sessions hearing from The Beauty Tech Group, Northern Gritstone, Rem3dy Health & GM Pension Fund. With some more details below…
Event details & registration:
https://www.rainmakerssummit.co.uk/
Discount code: RAINMAKER20
Please note that this offer is available for a limited time. We encourage you to secure your place at your earliest convenience.
::
Thank you for subscribing to Rainmakers.
We believe in good journalism that is worthy of your support. Please share this edition of Rainmakers so we can grow the message further and wider.
The insights and commentary we share with you are rooted in the trust we have built in the business community.
We’re also on LinkedIn - please join our Rainmakers community group for updates and offers and opportunities to comment.
If you have something you think we should look at, then either reply to this newsletter or email michael.taylor@thebusinessdesk.com.