Ley and Davidson launch RooGreen Ventures
TURNAROUND dealmaker Warwick Ley and award-winning businessman Brian Davidson have joined forces to launch RooGreen Ventures.
The pair, who worked closely on the successful acquisition, turnaround and sale of Lancashire-based Crown Paints, have opened an office on Deansgate in Manchester, and are looking for opportunities across the North.
Mr Ley, 40, left Endless last year, while Mr Davidson recently moved from chief executive to chairman at Crown. The new business takes its name from Mr Ley’s Australian roots (Roo) and the club colours of Mr Davidson’s favourite football team, Glasgow Celtic (Green).
RooGreen aims to provide a new and niche solution for businesses in need of capital restructuring and turnaround, particularly those laden with large debt burdens and unworkable financial structures, often referred to as “zombie” companies.
It will primarily be aimed at financial stakeholders such as the banks and private equity owners, whilst also working alongside the advisory community.
It will not raise its own fund in the short term, but will offer access to capital services alongside the advisory and management services.
Mr Ley said: “We established the idea after being invited to become involved in a potential debt for equity situation, which due to the circumstances at the time we couldn’t pursue.
“We think we can offer stakeholders a new and innovative option for so-called ‘zombie’ situations by utilising our complementary turnaround experience and taking a holistic long term approach to each case.
“Our proposition to incumbent stakeholders centres on retaining value and then growing it for them by taking a very active and ‘fix‐it’ role in each situation.”
He added: “We’ve each developed many good relationships in the advisory and institutional communities over the years and we’re really looking forward to working with the community again to help address this need in the market.”
Yorkshire-based Mr Davidson said: “By adopting our approach, we can hopefully help unlock the potential in some of these situations for the benefit of all involved. Turnaround and restructuring is what we both do.
“We both enjoy generating value for stakeholders and we both have a pretty successful track record in doing so”.
The partners’ professional relationship goes back eight years to the buy-out and turnaround of Plaxton Coachbuilders before they were reunited at Crown Paints.
