{"id":19946,"date":"2025-03-20T07:45:41","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T07:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/south-west\/?p=19946"},"modified":"2025-03-20T11:58:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T11:58:05","slug":"sme-fund-doubles-in-size-after-securing-50m-investment-from-avon-pension-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/south-west\/news\/19946-sme-fund-doubles-in-size-after-securing-50m-investment-from-avon-pension-fund","title":{"rendered":"SME fund doubles in size after securing \u00a350m investment from Avon Pension Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"

Avon Pension Fund has committed \u00a350m to Foresight Group’s evergreen South West Fund, which backs to growing SME companies from across the region.<\/p>\n

The Fund has now achieved a second close at \u00a3100m, after it was initially launched with a cornerstone investment from Devon Pension Fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Matt Smith, Foresight Group<\/p><\/div>\n

Foresight partner Matt Smith said “the additional investment from the Avon Pension Fund will allow us to invest in more ambitious growing companies across the South West.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Foresight South West Fund is the seventh regional private equity fund for the FTSE 250-listed private equity and infrastructure investment manager. It is designed to be evergreen, providing a permanent pool of capital for SMEs in a broad range of sectors, and can support the full range of transaction types including growth capital, buy-outs and equity release.<\/p>\n

Cllr Paul Crossley, chair of Avon Pension Fund committee, said: \u201cThere is a demand for funding for small and medium sized companies, and investment is crucial to ensure local businesses can reach their full potential.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re very pleased to support this fund with a \u00a350m commitment which is Avon Pension Fund\u2019s latest local impact initiative, following our recent successful investments into renewable energy<\/a> and affordable housing<\/a> in the South West.<\/p>\n

“We see great potential in the businesses located across the region and we believe this Fund will support the creation of high-quality, local jobs and positively impact the local economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u00a36bn Avon Pension Fund is administered by Bath & North East Somerset Council for more than 140,000 members across 450 employers in the former Avon area. The investment in Foresight’s fund means it now has \u00a3175m – around 3% – committed to local impact investing.<\/p>\n

Foresight has made two appointments since announcing the fund, with Olly Cox joining from Literacy Capital and Dave Guy returning to the corporate finance advisory sector after a year in industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South West Fund achieves second close ‘to invest in more ambitious growing companies’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":20004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,120667],"coauthors":[81],"class_list":["post-19946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-deals","category-smes","tag-bristol-and-bath","tag-cornwall","tag-devon","tag-dorset","tag-gloucestershire","tag-somerset","tag-top-story","tag-wiltshire"],"yoast_head":"\nForesight's South West Fund secures \u00a350m investment from Avon Pension Fund<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Evergreen SME fund achieves second close, as Foresight partner Matt Smith prepares 'to invest in more ambitious growing companies'\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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