Endless founder reveals plans for new £300m fund
TURNAROUND and private equity specialist Endless has revealed it is set to launch a new fund of up to £300m as it looks to make more investments.
Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com, co-founder Darren Forshaw said he expected the firm’s third fund – which will range from £250m to £300m – to be launched in 12 to 18 months time.
Mr Forshaw said Endless had received a favourable response from potential investors and that co-founder Garry Wilson was spending several days a week in London meeting interested parties.
Endless, which was launched in December 2005 with an initial fund of £135m, has currently invested half of its second closed fund of £164m.
Its focus is on acquisitions and equity investments which may include turnaround situations, financial restructurings, the acquisition of non-core businesses and challenging buy-outs.
The group, which is headquartered in Leeds and has an office in Birmingham and a newly opened operation in the capital, has completed more than 30 transactions investing more than £195m in businesses across the UK.
Mr Forshaw said Endless was delighted with its investment portfolio and the way the business had progressed since it launched.
He said: “Did we think that in five years after we started we’d have £300m under management, four offices, including six staff down in Mayfair, and have the reputation for being the leading turnaround investor for the mid market?
“No we didn’t but we’d hoped we’d be somewhere close. I think a lot of our success goes down to the fact that we predicted the market. And then we could bring a very strong team of quality people into it.”
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Mr Forshaw also heaped praise on Yorkshire property developer David Newett, who backed Endless from an early stage, and hailed his “entrepreneurial and visionary” approach.
He said he had doubts that next week’s Comprehensive Spending Review would provide a “watershed event” for the economy as it could take up to a year for any Government cost-cutting plans to be drawn up and put into effect.
Speaking about Endless’s current portfolio, Mr Forshaw said the firm was happy with its investments and added that despite approaches for some of its portfolio companies, it was under no pressure to sell.
Endless has previously rescued Yorkshire-headquartered Vasanta Group, retailer The Works, manufacturer Crown Paints and the turnaround and sale of Sheffield-based Davy Markham.
Mr Forshaw added that Endless was receiving around 500 approaches a year from organisations looking for investment, from which it might make six or seven decisions on funding.
