Private equity firm marks milestone with run of deals

Birmingham based Beech Tree Private Equity has hit a milestone having now completed six platform investments and ten bolt-on acquisitions since the team launched the firm just under four years ago.

Paul Franks and Andy Marsh set the firm up in 2015 with a view to creating “a more focused and agile” private equity firm specifically focused on helping CEOs and founders to scale their technology and tech-enabled businesses through investment in organic growth and/or a number of strategic acquisitions.

Beech Tree PE’s investments and bolt-on acquisitions include:

-Coleshill-based, RS Connect (the UK’s leading telematics and camera installation platform) acquired Edrive which provides insurance telematics installations and Signals which provides fleet camera and telematics installations;

-Solihull-based Wavenet (a leading UK based Unified Communications consolidator) has made 5 acquisitions since Beech Tree PE invested making it one of the UK’s fastest growing unified communications providers. The acquisitions include: Efuse, Talk Internet, APR, Swains and Solar Communications;

-Fluent Money (the UK’s leading secured loan and mortgage broker) acquired Brytannic Extra Finance, a mortgages and equity release broker. This acquisition facilitated Fluents growth into these markets allowing it to build on its already dominant position as the leading online second loan broker in the UK;

-Learnlight (the leading global online provider of virtual and digital language training solutions to large enterprises) has made two acquisitions since Beech Tree PE invested. The acquisitions include: UK based Communciaid and Germany based Arenalingua. The recent acquisition of German based Arenalingua, a leading provider of corporate language training to large German corporates, builds on Learnlight’s growing presence in the country and adds to the strategy of becoming the leading EdTech language training platform in Europe;

-Redstor (a leading data management solutions provider to global corporates), Redstor is looking for strategic acquisitions to supplement its organic growth across the data management space;

-BCN Group (a leading SME focused IT managed service provider). BCN’s strategy is to grow organically and to also acquire several scale and strategic acquisitions, the first of which is in exclusivity.

Paul Franks, managing partner of Beech Tree PE, said: “We are pleased with the development of Beech Tree since we started the business. Overall, we have delivered on what we said we would do and importantly, that is what we are known for in the market. We are not focused on building a huge portfolio of companies but instead just want to back like-minded individuals who want to take their businesses to the next level. Our approach is not to be once-a-month board members but instead are very driven to help the founders and CEO’s of the business we back drive significant value. We are still looking for further acquisitions for our current portfolio businesses to drive further scale and strategic value.”

Bill Dawson, CEO of Wavenet Group, added: “I have been working with Beech Tree since they invested in August 2016. We are very pleased with what we have achieved together as a team and both Paul and Adam have played a huge part in our story. We have made five acquisitions since they invested and are still on the look out to acquire additional businesses to continue our growth story.”