Enterprise Ventures reports year of record investment
FUND manager Enterprise Ventures, which provides equity and debt finance for SMEs, invested a record £29m in small businesses in 2013 – up £5m on the previous year, it said today.
The investor, which has offices in Manchester, Preston, Liverpool and Barnsley, said the number of deals it completed rose from 167 in 2012 to 211, while the total value of Enterprise Ventures’ funds under management increased from £130m to £140m.
The 2013 figures means that over the past three years EV has invested £73m in 555 transactions– equivalent to one deal every working day.
Significant deals over the last 12 months include the £6m MBO of Winderpower, the Leeds manufacturer of power distribution and generation equipment; the acquisition of North West coachbuilders Woodall Nicholson Group; a major investment into Knight Warner Limited, a Chesterfield-based manufacturer and the £3.8m buy-out of Blackburn-based Granby Marketing Services.
Enterprise Ventures manages 14 specially-targeted SME funds raised from the public and private sectors providing venture capital, growth capital and loans. They include The North West Fund for Venture Capital, The North WestFund for Mezzanine, Lancashire’s Rosebud Fund, the Finance Yorkshire Seedcorn Fund and Small Business Loans Fund, and the Coalfields Funds.
Chief executive Jonathan Diggines says that recent Bank of England figures, which showed that net lending to SMEs continued to fall in 2013, came as no surprise.
“Despite a blizzard of bank and government initiatives and announcements, clearing banks have had little appetite to lend to SMEs, and in particular to recently-formed small businesses with under £10m turnover.
“SME investors need on-the-ground expertise so that they can understand the needs of each business and provide support. Enterprise Ventures is one of the few fund managers providing finance to businesses of this size. We have supported some really great businesses in 2013 – both start-ups with new ideas and technologies, and experienced management teams in traditional industries. Many of the businesses we have backed would otherwise have failed to raise the investment they need.”
Mr Diggines expects that economic recovery will lead to greater demand for funding, but uncertainties still remain.
“Demand for funds is likely to rise in 2014, but two questions will dominate – will there be the funds available to meet the increased demand, and what will be the effect when interest rates start to rise, as will inevitably happen?”
He pledged Enterprise Ventures would continue to seek out and support promising small businesses in the coming year.
