Deals round up: Seneca backs Starbucks deal & more
NORTH West SME funder and adviser Seneca Partners has supported a £10m fund-raising by a franchise business operating Starbucks coffee shops.
Haydock-based Seneca Partners has lent more than £1m to to 23.5 Degrees, a company registered in Southampton, which has raised more than £10m in a deal led by Connection Capital, to open 12 stores a year over the next four years.
Seneca’s investment director, John Davies commented, “23.5 Degrees is run by an established, high quality management team and Seneca are pleased to be supporting their growth plans. Starbucks is an instantly recognisable international brand with a strong customer base and the market is well positioned for significant further growth over the coming years. We are excited to be working with Connection and the 23.5 Degrees management team and look forward to growing the Starbucks partnership over the next few years.”
Seneca Partners director, Richard Manley added: “We continue to see strong demand for the type of growth capital that we provide across all sectors. EIS particularly has a crucial role to play in continuing to provide a route via which SMEs can attract finance to support their growth.
“We are looking to add to our portfolio of investee companies with a particular focus on those companies whose funding requirement is between £1m and £3m. We are excited about working with more high growth companies and supporting them on their journey.”
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VYPR Validation Technologies has received a £55,000 venture capital investment from The North West Fund for Digital & Creative. The company will use the funding to further develop and market its mobile market research platform.
Based in Manchester, VYPR has created a mobile platform allowing fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and retail clients to test its new product offerings with consumers prior to making the decision to bring them to market. It has agreements in place with a number of major food brands who are actively using the platform to bring consumer insight into the early stages of their new product development.
The company was founded in 2013 by chief executive Ben Davies, who has used his significant experience in the retail sector to develop a proposition designed to be compelling to FMCG clients.
Davies said: “We are delighted to receive the investment from The North West Fund. As an early stage company it is critical that we continue to develop our proposition to meet our clients’ needs. We look forward to working with The North West Fund to continue to deliver effective solutions for our customers.”
Alun Lucas, investment manager, AXM Venture Capital, which manages The North West Fund for Digital & Creative, added: “We are pleased to welcome VYPR to The Fund’s portfolio, demonstrating our commitment to supporting young, growing companies. Over three quarters of new product launches in the FMCG sector ultimately fail and we believe that the VYPR platform delivers real insight and value to manufacturers and retailers to help them solve this issue.”
The North West Fund is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
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MEMBERS of the UHY Hacker Young Automotive team in Manchester have been involved in the completion of two deals in the sector.
The first transaction was representing Huntson Holdings, T/A Autoworld on the sale of their business to Stoneacre. The deal was managed by David Kendrick, partner at UHY Hacker Young Manchester.
The second transaction was the acquisition of SHG Holdings by Vertu Motors. Paul Daly, partner at UHY Hacker Young Manchester, advised on this deal which completed for £12.8m.
