Private equity firm launches in the North West
Private equity house Waterland Private Equity Investments has moved to its permanent UK office in the North West while unveiling a new UK team that is looking to partner with entrepreneurial companies in the UK and Ireland.
The European-wide private equity fund manager recently closed its seventh fund (WPEF VII), at €2bn, which took less than two months to raise, and attracted investment from Europe, the US, the Middle East and Asia.
Waterland UK, based in Wilmslow, focuses on sourcing buy-and-build opportunities across the UK and Ireland, typically concerning companies with EBITDA of between £3m and £10m.
The firm is looking to partner with companies across investment themes such as outsourcing, an ageing population, sustainability, luxury and lifestyle.
Founded in 1999, Waterland has backed in excess of 80 platform companies and has supported a further 330 bolt-on acquisitions to further support their growth.
Waterland employs more than 50 investment professionals across offices in Bussum (Netherlands), Antwerp (Belgium), Wilmslow (UK), Warsaw (Poland), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dusseldorf and Munich (Germany), which it says means it is well placed to help UK companies expand in to Europe.
The firm first entered the UK market at the start of 2017. Having completed one platform deal and two add-ons to that platform, as well as another seven UK add-ons to European businesses, its UK team has just relocated to a larger, permanent, office in Wilmslow, from which it will target partnerships with companies across the UK and Ireland.
The team is led by Andy Scaife, who was previously chief executive at Quantum Pharma, having been managing director during its period of private equity ownership.
He is being supported by Ryan Hallworth, Dominic Graham, David Slattery and office manager, Helen Michael.
Phil Goodwin, former UK head of Montagu, is a non-executive strategic advisor.
They are also in the process of further expanding the team and expect to add two further investment professionals in the coming months.
Scaife said: “As a new player in the UK, this is a very exciting time for the team. The interest in the fund and our differentiated offering has been strong and we are using our market led approach to identify opportunities in the UK and Ireland.
“We have the ability to really deliver on market consolidation opportunities, use our operational skills sets, and have a more flexible approach to investing. Using our unique approach and offering, we very much look forward to adding more companies to our UK portfolio.
“We have a focused investment strategy and significant capital to support ambitious entrepreneurs with domestic and overseas expansion. We will also work closely with our investment teams across Europe to help us identify international expansion opportunities for our portfolio companies.”
