This Sporting Life
Cricket, the Queen of Botox, Card Factory and Time Finance - what a mix
Hello Rainmakers,
This is your weekly freebie.
Sporting M&A often tends to have an international flavour.
One of the most fascinating stories in UK sport is the ambition of American investment fund Knighthead Capital as it completed a £40m deal for Warwickshire County Cricket Club's (WCCC) Birmingham Phoenix team.
The New York-based group meant serious business as it purchased of a 49% stake in the Hundred franchise based at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, another major boost to the city’s world-class sporting offer. WCCC will retain the remaining 51% stake in Birmingham Phoenix, which runs teams for men and women.
Knighthead, which acquired a majority stake in Birmingham City FC two years ago, has knocked it out of the park with this latest acquisition as it strengthens its place in UK sport.
::
Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, but 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.
::
Cards and gifts manufacturer and seller, Card Factory, may have more than 1,000 bricks and mortar stores in the UK and Ireland but it is not neglecting its digital operation. The Wakefield-headquartered business has this week confirmed it is swooping for online personalised card and gift retailer, Funky Pigeon, from WHSmith for £24m. And this takeover is certainly no flight of fancy because Card Factory says it means it should become the UK's second largest online card and related gift retailer.
It comes just six months after Card Factory shut its online gifting site gettingpersonal.co.uk And of course the deal also follows WHSmith's own sell off of its 230-year-old high street retail business to investment firm Modella Capital. Card Factory says its acquisition of Funky Pigeon will accelerate its existing digital strategy, providing a platform for online growth, particularly in the direct-to-recipient card and attached gifting market. Bristol and Guernsey-based Funky Pigeon has achieved revenues over the last two years of £32m and EBITDA of £5m.
::
We reported this week on the acquisition of the Medispa cosmetic surgery clinic, which boasts a galaxy of TV stars as its happy clients.
Although I wrote a comic thriller set in 2008 in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, where Dr Nyla Raja operates, it remains a world that repulses me as much as it fascinates.
I wonder how long that deal has been in the pipeline, as the founder known locally as the "Botox Queen", received a stinging assessment from the Care Quality Commission in 2023 for the hair transplant service at the Cheshire clinic, which is run separate from the other, non-regulated, cosmetic procedures on offer.
That she also used to be in business with footballer’s wife Dawn Ward, a star of Real Housewives of Cheshire, added spice to a story that may yet have many twists and turns.
The company has been bought by CPPE, an ambitious North American buy-and-build operation, that is looking to repeat its successful formula in Europe, spearheaded by Dy Nyla’s business.
::
Time Finance has increased its total funding facilities to an aggregate of more than £250m.
The AIM-listed independent specialist finance provider is backed by a panel of eight funding partners.
The Bath-headquartered group now has funding headroom of more than £95m to support its new three-year growth strategy. Its previous growth plan, from June 2021 to May 2025, saw Invoice Finance lending increase by 170% and Hard Asset lending by 249%.
James Roberts, chief financial officer, at Time Finance said: “The significant headroom provided by these larger and more flexible facilities across all lending divisions position the group well as it looks to further support UK business requiring funding for business-critical equipment through Asset Finance or working capital solutions through Invoice Finance.”
::
It turns out there’s more than old tennis balls and squeaky toys down the back of the dog kennel - there’s serious money hiding there too.
This week, investment vehicle RDCP has sniffed out a deal, acquiring Nottingham-based DJL Petfoods Ingredients (DJL) for an undisclosed sum. DJL, a supplier of premium pet food ingredients and raw materials, now has the backing to chase growth and roll out new product lines - presumably the kind that get tails wagging in more ways than one.
The acquisition also gives RDCP something to bark about, nudging its enterprise value up to a rather fetching £520m. Proof, if any were needed, that in the world of pet food, the smart money always follows the scent.
::
This week subscribers will have had full access to one the pieces that all our feedback tells us you like to read - insights into what funders want to see, and what they are likely to invest in.
When I sat down to talk to Claire Alvarez from private equity investor Foresight it was quite a revelation to hear just how many businesses they see, as a proportion of how many they end up investing in.
Private equity investor Foresight has opened a network of new offices around the country as part of its ambition to invest more than £1 billion in patient capital to support small growing companies across the UK and Ireland over the next five years.
In an exclusive interview with Rainmakers premium service, investment director Claire Alvarez provided insights into Foresight’s expanding network of regional teams seeking to plug the structural gap for small Private Equity and Venture Capital investments, particularly outside London.
She reveals that the firm has rolled out a network of offices across the UK, from Nottingham and Manchester to Edinburgh, Belfast, and soon, Sheffield.
This expansion is more than a real estate play. It’s about deploying capital where it’s needed most. “As we’ve been doing that, we’ve been raising regional funds,” she says.
“We’re on the second iteration of that in the North West… and we’ll be looking to the third iteration of that fund in the near future, hopefully. And then we’ve kind of copied that model across the UK, so we’ve got lots of capital to deploy regionally because there is still that bias of funding going towards London.”
In its annual results published in June 26th, Foresight reported some £1.8 billion Assets Under Management across its 15 Private Equity Funds, eight VC Funds and private credit fund with more than £250 million invested into smaller companies.
Claire Alvarez will also be a speaker at a Rainmakers lunch event in Manchester on Thursday 2 October, 12pm – 3pm, at Manchester Hall, 36 Bridge St, Manchester, M3 3BT, alongside the Rainmaker of the Year – Michael Loudon, a partner and head of the North West at Clearwater; and Changemaker of Year, Greg Holmes, from Palatine, who scooped the awards at our Rainmakers awards in June.
TheBusinessDesk.com is bringing its prestigious Rainmaker Awards to the South West after their success in its other regions.
The awards programme, which is launched today, will bring together the South West corporate finance community to showcase the best deals and teams from the past 12 months.
The 15 categories have been specially chosen to recognise the region’s outstanding teams, deals and individuals – providing a unique opportunity to celebrate dealmaking in the region.
Making these awards stand out is the fact that the winners are selected by the community themselves in a one-firm, one-vote system.
Judging will take place at a special event in September, from which a shortlist will go forward to an exclusive awards evening to be held on 26 November at Bristol’s Harbour Hotel.
In keeping with the highly collaborative nature of dealmaking in the South West, TheBusinessDesk has ditched the traditional tuxedos and long speeches associated with these events for an evening that focuses on recognising and celebrating the best work from the year.
Click here for more information.
The South West Rainmaker 2025 categories are:
Teams
Legal Team
Corporate Finance Advisory Team
VC/Private Equity Team
Debt Funder
Asset-based Lending Team
Due Diligence
Tax Advisory
Deals
Private Equity Exit of the Year
International Deal of the Year
Small Deal of the Year (up to £10m)
Medium Deal of the Year (£10m-£50m)
Large Deal of the Year (over £50m)
Individual
Rising Star of the Year
Changemaker of the Year
Rainmaker of the Year
::
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.
Rainmakers is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.