Private equity firm targets £100m investment

Palatine Private Equity is targeting the £100m investment mark in Midlands businesses, having pumped £55m into the region over the last three years.

The firm opened its Midlands office in December 2015, and has since moved to a new office in Somerset House on Temple Street in Birmingham.

Palatine’s Midlands team has made four investments and an exit since the office launch, generating over £8.5m in fees for the local corporate finance community.

Westleigh Partnerships was backed with a £21m investment and was exited less than 21 months later when the company was acquired by a Plc in a £134m deal – generating a three times return on investment and 90% IRR for Palatine.

Investments include a deal for Telford-based TTC Group, a provider of road user and cycling education courses, as well as the secondary buyout of CET UK, a specialist provider of infrastructure and property assurance services. The latter recently completed the bolt-on of geotechnical and constructions materials testing specialist Enverity, enabling CET to add to its national infrastructure division.

The region has also benefited from the firm’s £100m Impact Fund, with the investment in East-Midlands based e-days, a provider of employee absentee management software. The Impact Fund targets investments of up to £10m in companies with a positive social and/or environmental impact whilst also delivering industry standard returns.

Richard Thomas, senior investment director and head of Palatine’s Midlands office, said: “Despite current political uncertainty, the Midlands market continues to be ripe with opportunities, and there is a strong appetite from Palatine for investment in high calibre management teams looking to fulfil their ambitious expansion plans. Since we opened, other firms have followed, and the Midlands now has a private equity market that rivals other cities. As a result, businesses in the region are increasingly looking at this type of funding to achieve their growth aspirations.”

“In light of the ongoing political uncertainly, many firms are adopting a ‘wait and see approach’. However, uncertainty can also throw up new opportunities, and we are perfectly placed to capitalise on this. The Midlands is a fantastic market and we are confident of topping the £55m already invested over the next few years.”