Beech Tree hits deals trail

BEECH Tree Private Equity, the new investment firm launched by the former bosses of Gresham in Manchester and Birmingham, has made its maiden investment.

The first deal is an undisclosed investment into a West Midlands RS Fleet, one of the largest installers of
telematics devices in cars for insurance companies, a major growth area in the sector.

Telematics devices are increasingly being used by insurance companies to provide real-time data on driver behaviour that enables insurers to offer consumers lower priced policies if they drive responsibly.

Initially targeted at  17-20 year old drivers who have just passed their driving test, telematics devices are now being fitted in more and more policies which enable a wide range of consumers to benefit from lower premiums and reward good driving.

Paul Franks,  co-founder and joint managing partner of Beech Tree said “We are incredibly excited to be investing in RS Fleet. Our business model is to seek out fast-growth sub-sectors in the UK and then find the best businesses in these sectors to take advantage of the market dynamics.  

“The market for telematics-based solutions is accelerating rapidly and we believe we have found the UK’s leading service provider to the insurance industry in the UK. Our investment will be used to expand the management team, to enter new markets in the UK, including the fleet market, where we see huge potential for telematics-enabled solutions and to support RS Fleet’s existing customers with their growth plans, both in the UK and overseas.”

RS Fleet is based in Coleshill in the West Midlands and installs more than 200,000 telematics devices across the UK through its fleet of over 100 field-based auto engineers.

Beech Tree is looking to invest up to £30m a year into high growth companies typically valued at between £10m and £75m.