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Category: Press releases

Shard Credit Partners Limited Holds First Close on New £75 million Venture Debt Fund I

Posted on by shardadmin

Shard Credit Partners Limited announces the successful first close of its inaugural UK technology-focused venture debt fund, with £16.5 million in commitments from UK and European institutional investors, alongside UK technology industry entrepreneurs.  The fund will make investments in senior secured loans with equity warrants to venture capital backed businesses in the B2B SaaS and Fintech sectors located throughout the UK.

Shard Credit Partners Limited’s new fund will target borrowers with annual recurring revenues of at least £2.0 million, that are finding it increasingly difficult to source long-term financing from traditional lenders.  The fund will provide flexible venture loan capital in support of sales growth, through increased expenditure on marketing initiatives.  Typical loan sizes will range between £2.0-6.0 million per borrower, with maturities of up to five years.

The fund has already completed two investments with total commitments of £6.5 million ahead of first close.  This included the fund’s first exit in December 2021, PassFort, which generated a total gross IRR of 249.2% in just six months (1.8x multiple on invested capital).  The fund aims to complete around 15 investments per annum during the three year investment period.

Venture debt is becoming increasingly popular with high growth technology companies globally in recent years.  The asset class is highly developed in the United States, having positively tracked the strong growth in the venture equity market during the last two decades.  The venture lending market is in its infancy in the UK and remains an area that is materially underserved, which has created an opportunity for innovative private credit managers to raise dedicated technology venture debt funds.

Market demand for venture debt in the UK is being driven on the back of very strong growth in the technology venture capital sector over the past decade, which now comprises approximately 13,000 post series A technology companies.  This represents a significant addressable market opportunity for specialist UK technology venture debt funds, such as the one launched by Shard Credit Partners Limited.

William Chappel, Head of Venture Debt for Shard Credit Partners Limited, said “We are delighted to hold our first close of the fund and we look forward to continuing to support fast-growth businesses across the software as a service and fintech sectors.  We aim to become the ‘go-to’ debt provider for venture capital-backed high growth technology businesses in the UK”.

Alastair Brown, Chief Executive of Shard Credit Partners Limited, commented, “The successful launch of our inaugural UK technology venture debt fund, just one year after launching this unique strategy, is a testament to the hard work of everyone that has been involved and is something to be proud of.  It further cements our position as a specialist private credit manager in the UK and continental European direct lending marketplace, successfully investing in strategies having a senior secured risk profile and generating high teens double digit gross returns for our institutional investor base”.

Shard Credit Partners Limited is currently in advanced discussions with several UK and international institutional investors with regard to participating in subsequent fund closes throughout summer 2022.  The target fund size at final close is £75 million, with a hard cap at £100 million, by June 2023.

Shard Credit Partners Limited has a strong focus on ESG across all its private credit investments and has historically been a strong supporter of female entrepreneurs and firms with meaningful female leadership, ownership, and senior management.  No less than 80% of its investee companies have female board representation and 60% have mixed sex equity ownership, a direct result of Shard Credit Partners Limited’s implementation of ESG covenants and ESG margin ratchets in its loan agreements and investment documentation as standard.

The funds team at Stephenson Harwood led by Partner Sarah de Ste Croix and supported by Arooj Khan and Hugo Mayes, provided fund formation advice to Shard Credit Partners Limited.  The funds team at BDO, led by Partner Nicoletta Papademetris, supported by Tina Agnosteva, David Tran and Matt Barr, provided fund tax and structuring services to Shard Credit Partners Limited.

 

 

About Shard Credit Partners Limited:     
Shard Credit Partners Limited is an alternative investment fund manager focused on private credit strategies in the UK lower mid-market.  Its funds seek to generate superior risk-adjusted returns from conservatively structured senior secured credit investments with equity upside. Fund strategies include SME direct lending and tech-focused venture debt.

Shard Credit Partners Limited is currently investing from its debut direct lending fund Shard Credit Partners Fund I, which held a first close in October 2017 at £90.2 million.  Shard Credit Partners Limited plans to hold a first close on its second UK lower mid-market direct lending fund during Q4 2022.

Shard Credit Partners Limited invests in solid small to medium sized businesses with strong management teams, supporting them by providing transformative growth capital and event driven financing in support of innovation, growth, and expansion. The funds invest in businesses throughout the UK.

Recent investments include the venture debt financing for Rezatec Limited in August 2021, the refinancing and shareholder reorganisation of Midwest Mechanical and Electrical Services Ltd in August 2021, as well as the financing in support of the acquisition of The Technology Group by Gradwell Communications in March 2021. The SME direct lending fund also funded the MBI of JST Services Ltd in Scotland, the MBO and buy-and-build strategy of eQuality Solutions Ltd in the North-East of England, and the MBO of Chameleon Technology (UK) Ltd in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, each of which completed in December 2020.

In 2020, Shard Credit Partners Limited ranked eighth in the Debtwire UK Direct Lender league table published by Acuris. Shard Credit Partners Limited was recently awarded Alternative Finance Provider of the Year 2021 (North-East region) at the Insider Media Dealmakers Awards.

Shard Credit Partners Limited is an Appointed Representative of Shard Capital AIFM LLP, authorised and regulated by the FCA (number 615463).

 

Contact details:

Newgate Communications

 

 Elisabeth Cowell / Robin Tozer / Isabelle Smurfit

Email: shardcapital@newgatecomms.com

 

Shard Credit Partners Limited

 

 Head of Business Development: ben.ellis@shardcreditpartners.com

Investor relations:   IR@shardcreditpartners.com

Business:    info@shardcreditpartners.com

Website:    www.shardcreditpartners.com

 

 

Shard Credit Partners exits its first venture debt fund investment in PassFort Ltd, in sale to Moody’s Corporation for an undisclosed sum.

Posted on by shardadmin

PassFort Ltd (“PassFort”), a UK based SaaS regulatory technology company has been acquired by Moody’s Corporation (“Moody’s”) for an undisclosed sum.

PassFort, headquartered in London, was founded by Donald Gilles and Henry Irish in 2015. The company’s compliance platform provides automated ‘Know Your Customer’ (“KYC”) screening, Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) services and facilitates automated risk monitoring for regulated financial firms.

Moody’s is a global risk assessment firm, headquartered in New York. Its data and analytical solutions provide transparency to decision-makers across the world, empowering individuals to take more informed and effective business actions. The acquisition of PassFort supports Moody’s previous investments in KYC and AML capabilities.

Shard Credit Partners provided a venture debt facility of £3.5 million to PassFort in May 2021, in support of capital expenditure to promote business growth. In the past six months, the company’s workforce has grown by the addition of more than 30 staff, taking the total number of employees working in PassFort to 72. Further to the company’s growth, it has now been acquired by a multinational corporation. The Shard Credit Partners’ loan to PassFort represents the asset manager’s first ever investment from its new Venture Debt Fund I, which is holding a first close later this month.

Donald Gilles, CEO and Co-Founder of PassFort, commented: “We are, of course, delighted to become part of Moody’s, as we are joining a company with market leader status and more than 100 years of expertise in helping customers to manage risk. Together we will expand our automated KYC offerings and serve global customers with innovative RegTech solutions. But, we are equally grateful for the funding and support that Shard and our other investors have given PassFort – they believed in our vision and provided the capital and support to help us realise it.”

Alastair Brown, CEO of Shard Credit Partners said: “PassFort has been a remarkable first investment for our new UK tech venture debt strategy, which we launched earlier this year. This is a ringing endorsement for UK tech venture capital and we are tremendously excited to be supporting this rapidly growing and important part of the UK economy through our inaugural venture debt fund, which is entirely focused on UK B2B SaaS and Fintech investments, the only one of its kind.”

Legal advice to Shard Credit Partners was provided by Orrick LLP, led by Partner Scott Morrison and supported by Hridi Chowdhury.

About Shard Credit Partners:     
Shard Credit Partners is an alternative investment fund manager focused on private credit strategies in the UK lower mid-market.  Its funds seek to generate superior risk-adjusted returns from conservatively structured senior secured credit investments with equity upside. Fund strategies include SME direct lending and tech-focused venture debt.

Shard Credit Partners is currently investing from its debut direct lending fund Shard Credit Partners Fund I, which held a first close in October 2017 at £90.2 million. Shard Credit Partners plans to hold a first close on its second UK lower mid-market direct lending fund during Q1 2022.

Shard Credit Partners invests in solid small to medium sized businesses with strong management teams, supporting them by providing transformative growth capital and event driven financing in support of innovation, growth, and expansion. The funds invest in businesses throughout the UK.

The firm has robust ESG policies.  In particular, it is a strong supporter of female entrepreneurs and firms with meaningful female leadership, ownership, and senior management.  No less than 80% of its investee companies have female board representation and 60% have mixed sex equity ownership, a direct result of Shard Credit Partners implementation of ESG covenants and ESG margin ratchets in its loan agreements and investment documentation as standard.

Recent investments also include the venture debt financing for Rezatec Limited in August 2021, the refinancing and shareholder reorganisation of Midwest Mechanical and Electrical Services Ltd in August 2021, as well as the financing in support of the acquisition of The Technology Group by Gradwell Communications in March 2021. The Fund completed financing transactions for the MBI of JST Services Ltd in Scotland, the MBO and buy-and-build strategy of eQuality Solutions Ltd in the North-East of England, and the MBO of Chameleon Technology (UK) Ltd in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, each of which completed in December 2020.

In 2020, Shard Credit Partners ranked eighth in the Debtwire UK Direct Lender league table published by Acuris. Shard Credit Partners was recently awarded Alternative Finance Provider of the Year 2021 (North-East region) at the Insider Media Dealmakers Awards.

Shard Credit Partners Ltd is an Appointed Representative of Shard Capital AIFM LLP, authorised and regulated by the FCA (number 615463).

 

Contact details:

SEC Newgate

 

 Tel: Elisabeth Cowell / Robin Tozer / Isabelle Smurfit

Email: shardcapital@secnewgate.co.uk
Shard Credit Partners Investor relations:   IR@shardcreditpartners.com

Business:    info@shardcreditpartners.com

Website:    www.shardcreditpartners.com

 

 

Shard Credit Partners provides £900K in support of the acquisition of The Educational Guidance Service Ltd by eQuality Solutions Ltd.

Posted on by shardadmin

Shard Credit Partners has provided financing of £900K to portfolio company eQuality Solutions Ltd (“eQS”) to facilitate the acquisition of expert psychology business The Education Guidance Service (“EGS”).

eQS is a leading disability, diversity and inclusion specialist, headquartered in the North East. The group specialises in the support of students that qualify for an annual grant under the Disabled Students Allowance (“DSA”), as they enter higher education within the UK. The acquisition of EGS is the third acquisition by eQS in only ten months since the primary Management Buy-Out (“MBO”) in December 2020, as the group successfully executes its M&A buy-and-build strategy with the financial firepower being provided by the Shard Credit Partners.

EGS is based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and has over 40 employees. The company was established over 22 years ago and is one of the largest providers of educational and occupational psychologists. EGS provides services to children, young people and adults who experience specific learning difficulties and social and emotional barriers both within educational settings and the workplace.

Due to EGS’ complementary capabilities, the combined group will benefit from positive synergies by building on eQS’s disability services division, which provides specialist assistive technology equipment, software, training and mentoring in the education, workplace and government sectors.

EGS will add £1.7 million of revenue and c. £250K of EBITDA to the Group and will increase the number of employees to c.80 in addition to 350 freelance psychologists, consultants, trainers, and delivery engineers across the UK. This acquisition, combined with the completion of two recent acquisitions, strongly positions eQS to achieve £30 million turnover by 2023.

The acquisition financing was arranged by Shard Credit Partners as part of a committed £12 million senior secured unitranche facility provided in December 2020 in support of the primary MBO of eQS and to provide firepower for strategic acquisitions.

Andy Gough, CEO of eQS views this acquisition as being pivotal to the group’s ‘buy-and-build’ growth strategy and in becoming the leading global provider of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) solutions. Andy commented: “The past couple of years have not only seen a global health crisis but also an awakening regarding inclusion and acceptance of individuals identifying with a cognitive disability. This has created an even bigger demand for cognitive disability assessments within both the educational and workplace settings.

EGS is a leader in this market and quickly became our top choice for our next acquisition due to its capability and outstanding reputation. Upon first meeting with EGS founder Alex Griffiths, it was clear EGS is a strong strategic fit for the Group, aligning with our purpose and mission. I believe we share a mutual passion for helping people achieve their best by removing barriers. I am looking forward to welcoming the EGS team into the eQS family and believe we will achieve great things together.”

EGS founder Alex Griffiths said: “I have had many organisations interested in acquiring EGS over the last couple of years but eQS was the only acquirer I seriously considered for the business.  The eQS team stood out as down to earth people who understood what we were about and demonstrated a clear passion for looking after the EGS brand and developing it in the ‘EGS way’.  There was a synergy between our business culture and values, and a very obvious desire to look after the exceptional team who have helped us create this legacy of doing good and unlocking potential.”

Alastair Brown, CEO of Shard Credit Partners, commented: “We are pleased to continue to support our investment in eQS with additional funding to complete this important acquisition. As a lender we are very focused on supporting the environmental, social and governance agenda and very much look forward to the ongoing growth and development of eQS and EGS as they move together continuing with their great work.”

Advising eQS on the acquisition were Corporate Financiers Carl Swansbury, Rhiannon Nightingale, Connor McBride and Ben Kain of Newcastle-based RG Corporate Finance (RGCF), with financial and tax due diligence delivered by Grahame Maughan and Simon Whiteside of RG.

Legal advice was provided by Corporate Partner Tom Pollard and Corporate Solicitor Liam Stubbs of Ward Hadaway LLP.

Shard Credit Partners’ strategy is to become a leading provider of capital to entrepreneur and management-owned companies, VC backed growth businesses and private equity-owned companies focused on achieving transformational growth and expansion in the UK regions. During the past four years, Shard Credit Partners has invested more than £130.0 million in supporting regional Management Buy-Out transactions and M&A buy-and-build acquisition strategies, as well as growth capital expenditure financing.

About Shard Credit Partners:

Shard Credit Partners Ltd is an alternative investment fund manager focused on private credit strategies in the UK lower mid-market.  Its funds seek to generate superior risk-adjusted returns from conservatively structured senior secured credit investments with equity upside. Fund strategies include direct lending and tech-focused venture debt.

Shard Credit Partners is currently investing from its debut direct lending fund Shard Credit Partners Fund I, which held a first close in October 2017 at £90.2 million.  Shard Credit Partners plans to hold a first close on its second UK lower mid-market direct lending fund during Q1 2022.

Shard Credit Partners invests in solid small to medium sized businesses with strong management teams, supporting them by providing transformative growth capital and event driven financing in support of innovation, growth and expansion.  The fund invests in businesses across all sectors and throughout the UK.

The firm has a robust ESG focus; in particular, it is a strong supporter of female entrepreneurs and firms with meaningful female leadership, ownership and senior management.

Recent investments include the venture debt refinancing of PassFort Limited in May 2021, the venture debt financing for Rezatec Limited in August 2021, the financing in support of the acquisition of The Technology Group by Gradwell Communications in March 2021, as well as the refinancing and shareholder reorganisation of Midwest Mechanical and Electrical Services Ltd in August 2021. The fund completed financing transactions for the MBI of JST Services Ltd in Scotland, the MBO and buy-and-build strategy of eQuality Solutions Ltd in the North-East of England, and the MBO of Chameleon Technology Ltd in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, each of which completed in December 2020.

In 2020, Shard Credit Partners ranked eighth in the Debtwire UK Direct Lender league table published by Acuris. Shard Credit Partners was recently awarded Alternative Finance Provider of the Year 2020 (North-east region) in the Insider Dealmakers Awards.

Shard Credit Partners Ltd is an Appointed Representative of Shard Capital AIFM LLP, authorised and regulated by the FCA (number 615463).

 

 

 

Contact details:

Newgate Communications

 

 Tel: Elisabeth Cowell / Robin Tozer / Isabelle Smurfit

Email: shardcapital@newgatecomms.com
Shard Credit Partners Investor relations:   IR@shardcreditpartners.com

Business:    info@shardcreditpartners.com

Website:    www.shardcreditpartners.com

 

Shard Credit Partners provides financing in support of the acquisition of GenGame Ltd by Chameleon Technology (UK) Ltd.

Posted on by shardadmin

Shard Credit Partners has provided financing to portfolio company Chameleon Technology (UK) Ltd (“Chameleon Technology”) to facilitate the acquisition of GenGame Ltd (“GenGame”).

Chameleon Technology, based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, is a market leader in smart energy technologies. Chameleon Technology’s seven million installed In-Home-Displays (“IHDs”) help millions of customers nationwide to understand and manage their energy consumption, allowing consumers to make increasingly economic and sustainable energy decisions. The acquisition of GenGame enhances Chameleon Technology’s capability to deliver value to consumers through real-time energy data and personalised insights, as the nation transitions to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

GenGame is an energy technology company based in Leicester, with an app product suite and data platform that integrates with smart meters, electric vehicles, billing systems and heating systems to provide households with a concise view of their energy consumption and payments. This empowers individuals to make changes to reduce their carbon footprint and to reduce their energy costs. Gengame’s technology helps utilities to engage with and create value with customers.

The acquisition will provide enhanced capabilities to the core group, predominantly accelerating the development of Chameleon Technology’s direct to consumer products. GenGame will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Chameleon Technology but will continue to operate out of Leicester. The current Managing Director of GenGame, Stephane Lee-Favier will continue to fulfil this role for GenGame as well as joining the Operations Board at Chameleon Technology to provide strategic input into future technology developments.

The acquisition was funded by Shard Credit Partners under an incremental facility provided as part of an existing £12.5 million senior secured unitranche facility provided in support of the primary Management Buy-Out (“MBO”) of Chameleon Technology in December 2020.

Mike Woodhall, CEO, Chameleon Technology, says: “Acquiring GenGame is a timely strategic move to further advance our product roadmap. Our focus is on enabling all consumers to understand and reduce both their energy consumption and carbon emissions. With this acquisition we gain another means of empowering those consumers and the ability to put the data needed to help them on their personal journey to net zero in their hands.

We are aiming to make the management of home energy smarter, simpler, greener and more personalised. GenGame’s experience in delivering applications that demystify some of the complexity of the energy system is going to be a big part of this. The acquisition is well-timed to leverage and support the transformation of the energy industry and will cement our position as a leader in smart home energy management.” 

Stephane Lee-Favier, Managing Director, GenGame Ltd, says: “It is great to be joining the Chameleon Technology group, and at a very exciting time for the future of energy. We are looking forward to scaling and commercialising what we have built and driving a consumer-led, low-carbon offering together. Both of our companies’ missions are totally aligned in allowing the consumer to see value in changing their home energy behaviour, and this makes it an ideal opportunity for GenGame.”

Alastair Brown, CEO of Shard Credit Partners commented: “We are delighted to have this opportunity to further support the growth and development of Chameleon Technology in its acquisition of GenGame. The combination of the two businesses will accelerate the combined group’s effort to help the UK achieve net zero in line with the UK Government’s objectives in the coming years.”

Legal advice and due diligence surrounding the acquisition was provided to Chameleon Technology by Clarion, led by Hitesh Taylor.

Tax and structuring advice to Chameleon Technology was provided by Ryecroft Glenton, led by Simon Whiteside.

Legal advice to GenGame Ltd was provided by Austin Moore & Partners, led by Louise Firth.

Legal advice to Shard Credit Partners was provided by Andrew Madden and Carys Hughes-Jones of Gateley Legal.

Shard Credit Partners’ strategy is to become a leading provider of capital to entrepreneur and management-owned companies, VC backed growth businesses and private equity-owned companies focused on achieving transformational growth and expansion in the UK regions. During the past four years, Shard Credit Partners has invested more than £130.0 million in supporting regional Management Buy-Out transactions and M&A buy-and-build acquisition strategies, as well as growth capital expenditure financing.

About Shard Credit Partners:     
Shard Credit Partners ltd (an Appointed Representative of Shard Capital AIFM LLP, authorised and regulated by the FCA – number 615463) is an alternative investment fund manager focused on private credit strategies in the UK lower mid-market.  Its funds seek to generate superior risk-adjusted returns from conservatively structured senior secured credit investments with equity upside. Fund strategies include direct lending and tech-focused venture debt.

Shard Credit Partners is currently investing from its debut direct lending fund Shard Credit Partners Fund I, which held a first close in October 2017 at £90.2 million. Shard Credit Partners plans to hold a first close on its second UK lower mid-market direct lending fund during Q1 2022.

Shard Credit Partners invests in solid small to medium sized businesses with strong management teams, supporting them by providing transformative growth capital and event driven financing in support of innovation, growth, and expansion. The Fund invests in businesses across all sectors and throughout the UK.

The firm has a robust ESG focus; in particular, it is a strong supporter of female entrepreneurs and firms with meaningful female leadership, ownership, and senior management.

Recent investments include the venture debt financing for Rezatec Limited in August 2021, the refinancing and shareholder reorganisation of Midwest Mechanical and Electrical Services Ltd in August 2021, the venture debt refinancing of PassFort Limited in May 2021, as well as the financing in support of the acquisition of The Technology Group by Gradwell Communications in March 2021. The Fund completed financing transactions for the MBI of JST Services Ltd in Scotland, the MBO and buy-and-build strategy of eQuality Solutions Ltd in the North-East of England, and the MBO of Chameleon Technology (UK) Ltd in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, each of which completed in December 2020.

In 2020, Shard Credit Partners ranked eighth in the Debtwire UK Direct Lender league table published by Acuris. Shard Credit Partners was recently awarded Alternative Finance Provider of the Year 2020 (North-East region) in the Insider Dealmakers Awards.

Contact details:

 SEC Newgate

 

 

 Tel: Elisabeth Cowell / Robin Tozer / Isabelle Smurfit

Email: shardcapital@secnewgate.co.uk
Shard Credit Partners Investor relations:   IR@shardcreditpartners.com

Business:    info@shardcreditpartners.com

Website:    www.shardcreditpartners.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shard Credit Partners provides £7.0 million for a transformational debt refinancing and shareholder reorganisation of Midwest Mechanical and Electrical Services Ltd.

Posted on by shardadmin

Shard Credit Partners has provided financing of £7.0 million to facilitate a transformational debt refinancing and shareholder reorganisation of Midwest Mechanical and Electrical Services Ltd (“Midwest”).

Midwest, headquartered in Wolverhampton with c.120 staff, was founded by Steve Lokucewicz in 1988 as a small electrical contracting business providing maintenance and project services to a selection of local clients within the West Midlands. In the following years, the business grew consistently and started to develop its strong reputation for timely and high-quality project delivery. In 2002, Steve’s son Paul Lokucewicz joined the organisation and laid the foundations to allow further organic growth by expanding the customer base across construction, defence and the NHS. Midwest is renowned for its strong, longstanding relationships with its customers and for providing solutions on complex mechanical and electrical engineering projects from design and installation through to ongoing building maintenance following project completion.

The transaction refinances existing lenders and allows the exit of original founder Steve Lokucewicz as he fully retires from the business. This facilitates increased equity ownership for Paul and the management team that has been creating significant value in recent years following their successful MBO in 2019, as well as improving the gender diversity of the board composition which is an important ESG focus for Shard Credit Partners and Midwest. Midwest is entering an exciting growth phase in the coming years with a strong orderbook and high-profile project opportunities in the pipeline.

Paul Lokucewicz, Managing Director of Midwest said: “The Midwest Directors were extremely pleased to welcome Shard Credit Partners on board to assist with the refinancing of our MBO allowing us to bring the wider management team into the board room. This has provided us with a platform to further fuel the growth of the business, the refinancing process was extremely smooth and we found that the Shard Credit Partners team quickly understood our business and its needs”.

Alastair Brown, CEO of Shard Credit Partners, commented: “Our recent refinancing of Midwest represents our first transaction in the West Midlands and our tenth investment from Direct Lending Fund I. Having been extremely impressed with Paul and the senior management team during early discussions, we identified an opportunity to put forward an innovative refinancing structure that was ultimately well received and successfully implemented during the summer. We are also pleased to have made an impact from an ESG perspective by facilitating the appointment of Natasha Coates to the board around the time of the transaction. We all look forward to supporting the business and contributing to its stellar growth trajectory in future”.

Greg Easter, Partner at Heligan Group said: “We are delighted to have worked with Midwest and Shard Credit Partners on this deal.  Midwest is an owner managed business that has grown very impressively over the last ten years through high quality customer service and investment in people.  The financing and support from Shard will enable the business to continue this growth through the incentivisation of key management team members. The approach taken by Shard Credit Partners throughout the process made them excellent to deal with: the team showed flexibility in structuring a deal that worked for all parties and a straightforward approach to negotiating the transaction documents”.

Legal advice to Shard Credit Partners was provided by Gateley Legal, led by Banking & Finance partner Andrew Madden, supported by Victoria Elliott and William Bowler from Gateley Legal’s Corporate team. Legal advice to Midwest was provided by Shoosmiths.

Business and transactional tax advice was provided by Ryecroft Glenton’s Business Tax Partner Simon Whiteside and Director, Simon Hopwood. Financial due diligence was provided by Ryecroft Glenton’s Grahame Maughan, Jon Routledge and Andrew Cameron.

Shard Credit Partners’ strategy is to become a leading provider of capital to entrepreneur and management-owned companies, VC backed growth businesses and private equity-owned companies focused on achieving transformational growth and expansion in the UK regions.  During the past four years, Shard Credit Partners has invested more than £130 million in supporting regional Management Buy-Out transactions and M&A buy-and-build acquisition strategies, as well as growth capital expenditure financing.

 

 

About Shard Credit Partners:

Shard Credit Partners is an alternative investment fund manager focused on private credit strategies in the UK lower mid-market.  Its funds seek to generate superior risk-adjusted returns from conservatively structured senior secured credit investments with equity upside. Fund strategies include direct lending and tech-focused venture debt.

Shard Credit Partners is currently investing from its debut direct lending fund Shard Credit Partners Fund I, which held a first close in October 2017 at £90 million.  Shard Credit Partners plans to hold a first close on its second UK lower mid-market direct lending fund during Q1 2022.

Shard Credit Partners invests in solid small to medium-sized businesses with strong management teams, supporting them by providing transformative growth capital and event-driven financing in support of innovation, growth and expansion.  The fund invests in businesses across all sectors and throughout the UK.

The firm has a strong ESG focus; in particular, it is a strong supporter of female entrepreneurs and firms with meaningful female leadership, ownership and senior management.

Recent investments include the venture debt refinancing of PassFort Limited in May 2021, the venture debt financing for Rezatec Limited in August 2021, the financing in support of the acquisition of The Technology Group by Gradwell Communications in March 2021, as well as the MBI of JST Services Ltd in Scotland, the MBO and buy-and-build strategy of eQuality Solutions Ltd in the North-East of England, and the MBO of Chameleon Technology Ltd in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, each of which completed in December 2020.

In 2020, Shard Credit Partners ranked eighth in the Debtwire UK Direct Lender league table published by Acuris. Shard Credit Partners was recently awarded Alternative Finance Provider of the Year 2020 (North-east region) in the Insider Dealmakers Awards.

 

 

Contact details:

Newgate Communications

 

 Tel: Elisabeth Cowell / Robin Tozer / Isabelle Smurfit

Email: shardcapital@newgatecomms.com
Shard Credit Partners Investor relations:   IR@shardcreditpartners.com

Business:    info@shardcreditpartners.com

Website:    www.shardcreditpartners.com

Shard Credit Partners provides a £3.0 million Venture Debt facility to Rezatec Ltd

Posted on by shardadmin

Rezatec, with 50 staff and headquartered in the Harwell Space Cluster near Oxford, United Kingdom, provides Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) as a SaaS service to its customers around the world that enables them to monitor and manage their ground-based assets and critical infrastructure remotely and at scale. Rezatec AI products deliver rapid payback in a range of industry sectors and a user experience that is unmatched in the market.

The Shard Credit Partners venture debt facility underpins the financing of Rezatec’s continued expansion of its sales and marketing teams and, in particular, supports the ongoing acquisition of new customers in North America in the Water and Forestry sectors.

Patrick Newton, CEO of Rezatec commented: “The venture debt facility provided by Shard Credit Partners further advances our ability to drive sales across key markets in North America, Europe and Asia, and helps strengthen our position as a geospatial AI leader in these geographies. This long-term facility scales in line with our future sales growth as we help our new and existing customers leverage geospatial analytics to manage their ground assets and critical infrastructure with new insight and precision, in a cost-effective way.”

Legal advice to Shard Credit Partners was provided by Orrick LLP, led by Partner Scott Morrison and supported by Hridi Chowdhury.

Shard Credit Partners’ strategy is to become a leading provider of capital to entrepreneur and management-owned companies, VC backed growth businesses and private equity-owned companies focused on achieving transformational growth and expansion in the UK regions. In the past two years, Shard Credit Partners has invested more than £130 million in supporting regional Management Buy-Out transactions and M&A buy-and-build acquisition strategies, as well as growth capital expenditure financing.

 

 

About Shard Credit Partners:
Shard Credit Partners is an alternative investment fund manager focused on private credit strategies in the UK lower mid-market. Its funds seek to generate superior risk-adjusted returns from conservatively structured senior secured credit investments with equity upside. Fund strategies include direct lending and tech-focused venture debt.

Shard Credit Partners is currently investing from its debut direct lending fund Shard Credit Partners Fund I, which held a first close in October 2017 at £90 million. Shard Credit Partners plans to hold a first close on its second UK lower mid-market direct lending fund during the fourth quarter of 2021.

Shard Credit Partners invests in solid small to medium sized businesses with strong management teams, supporting them by providing transformative growth capital and event driven financing in support of innovation, growth and expansion. The fund invests in businesses across all sectors and throughout the UK.

The firm has a strong ESG focus; in particular, it is a strong supporter of female entrepreneurs and firms with meaningful female leadership, ownership and senior management.
Recent investments include the refinancing of MidWest Mechanical and Electrical Services Ltd in August 2021, the venture debt refinancing of PassFort Limited in March 2021, the financing in support of the acquisition of The Technology Group by Gradwell Communications in March 2021, the MBI of JST Services Ltd in Scotland, the MBO and buy-and-build strategy of eQuality Solutions Ltd in the North-East of England, and the MBO of Chameleon Technology Ltd in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, each of which completed in December 2020.

In 2020, Shard Credit Partners ranked eighth in the Debtwire UK Direct Lender league table published by Acuris. Shard Credit Partners was recently awarded Alternative Finance Provider of the Year 2020 (North-east region) in the Insider Dealmakers Awards.

Contact details:

Newgate Communications

 

 Tel: Elisabeth Cowell / Robin Tozer / Isabelle Smurfit

Email: shardcapital@newgatecomms.com
Shard Credit Partners Investor relations: IR@shardcreditpartners.com

Business: info@shardcreditpartners.com

Website: www.shardcreditpartners.com

Shard Credit Partners provides a £3.5 million Venture Debt facility to PassFort Ltd

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Shard Credit Partners has provided financing of £3.5 million ($4.89m USD) in support of the growth of ‘Reg-Tech’ business PassFort Ltd.

PassFort, headquartered in London with 40 staff, was founded in 2017. PassFort (https://passfort.com) is a compliance platform designed to automate the collection, verification and secure usage of due diligence (“DD”) and documentation for banks and financial services customers. The product gives the user the ability to oversee digital ‘Know Your Customer’ (“KYC”) practices, Anti Money Laundering (“AML”) requirements and identity checks plus allowing ongoing risk monitoring all-in-one solution.

PassFort is a product whereby the customers can create their policies and rules as to how they undertake their compliance practices in a fully automated manner. Their platform enables compliance teams to build a contextual understanding about their clients through live and real time searches, onboarding and continued red flag monitoring.

The Venture Debt facility has been provided to assist PassFort with expansion of the sales team, and to assist with the strong growth the business is currently going through.

Donald Gillies, CEO of PassFort said: “We are delighted to extend our partnership with Shard Credit Partners as part of our $16.2m Series A. The $4.89m being provided by Shard Credit Partners will enable PassFort to capitalise on significant growth across the digital economy and the growing need for our automated compliance solutions. It is a testament to the efforts of our team and company culture to have come through the last 12 months in a position where our products and our customer base are growing so rapidly. We are grateful to Will and the rest of the Shard Credit Partners team for believing in PassFort to be the cornerstone investment for this new UK fund and we look forward to partnering with them as both our businesses continue to grow.”

William Chappel, Head of Venture Debt for Shard Credit Partners, commented: “We are delighted to have been able to provide financing support to PassFort and we are extremely pleased to announce this as the first deal of the new Shard Credit Partners UK tech-focused venture debt strategy. PassFort is a name that I have followed for many years, and Donald and his team continue to build a dynamic and exciting offering. We are looking forward to working closely with PassFort as they continue to achieve strong growth milestones.”

Legal advice to Shard Credit Partners was provided by Orrick LLP, led by Partner Scott Morrison and supported by Hridi Chowdhury.

Shard Credit Partners’ strategy is to become a leading provider of capital to entrepreneur and management-owned companies, VC backed growth businesses and private equity-owned companies focused on achieving transformational growth and expansion in the UK regions.  In the past two years, Shard Credit Partners has invested more than £130 million in supporting regional Management Buy-Out transactions and M&A buy-and-build acquisition strategies, as well as growth capital expenditure financing. This transaction represents the first Venture Debt transaction by Shard Credit Partners.  

 

An introduction to Passfort:

About Shard Credit Partners:

Shard Credit Partners is an alternative investment fund manager focused on private credit strategies in the UK lower mid-market. Its funds seek to generate superior risk-adjusted returns from conservatively structured senior secured credit investments at low leverage, benefiting from robust documentation and a full suite of financial and non-financial covenants.

Shard Credit Partners is currently investing from its debut direct lending fund Shard Credit Partners Fund I, which held a first close in October 2017 at £90 million. Shard Credit Partners plans to hold a first close on its second UK lower mid-market direct lending fund during the fourth quarter of 2021.

Shard Credit Partners invests in solid small to medium sized businesses with strong management teams, supporting them by providing transformative growth capital and event driven financing in support of innovation, growth and expansion. The fund invests in businesses across all sectors and throughout the UK.

The firm has a strong ESG focus; in particular, it is a strong supporter of female entrepreneurs and firms with meaningful female leadership, ownership and senior management.

Recent investments include the financing in support of the acquisition of The Technology Group by Gradwell Communications in March 2021, the MBI of JST Services Ltd in Scotland, the MBO and buy-and-build strategy of eQuality Solutions Ltd in the North-East of England, and the MBO of Chameleon Technology Ltd in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, each of which completed in December 2020.

In 2020, Shard Credit Partners ranked eighth in the Debtwire UK Direct Lender league table published by Acuris.

 

Contact details:

Newgate Communications

 

Tel: Elisabeth Cowell / Robin Tozer / Isabelle Smurfit

Email: shardcapital@newgatecomms.com

Shard Credit Partners

Investor relations: IR@shardcreditpartners.com

Business: info@shardcreditpartners.com

Website: www.shardcreditpartners.com   

Shard Credit Partners announce key senior hires.

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Lizzie Ball has joined Shard Credit Partners as its new chairman.  Lizzie will be leading the corporate governance of Shard and its funds and sitting on investment committee.  Lizzie was previously Managing Director and Associate General Counsel at Barings taking a leading role on special situations investments and portfolio restructurings in investments primarily in European private debt and high yield.  Lizzie also supported the general counsel function at Barings with fund structuring and legal oversight of the business and worked with the direct lending team at Barings on structuring and execution of transactions.  Lizzie is a qualified lawyer having started her career at Hogan Lovells working in both London and Hong Kong and specialising in acquisition and leveraged finance.  She worked together with Alastair Brown at Merrill Lynch and Alastair Brown and Greg Lomas were clients of hers whilst they were at CIBC World Markets.

Ben Ellis has joined Shard Credit Partners as its new Business Development Director.  Ben was previously Business Development Manager at boutique alternatives placement agent AZR Capital, where he covered and raised capital from UK and European investors.  Prior to that, he worked for Amundi Asset Management, focusing on UK public sector pension funds.  There, he worked very closely with the Allocation and Solutions team in facilitating the design, development and distribution of bespoke investment solutions to the UK Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) market.  Ben will be leading the fundraising and investor relations team at Shard Credit Partners.

Alastair Brown, co-founder and CEO of Shard Credit Partners said: “We are delighted to have been able to attract such high calibre individuals into these key roles.  I have worked with Lizzie on many occasions during the past twenty years and am excited that she has chosen to join us as we start the next stage of our company’s evolution.  Lizzie brings a unique mix of commercial legal skills that will be put to good use in a variety of key areas.”

“Ben represents another critical hire as we embark on the next phase of growth in assets under management across two private credit strategies.  We look forward to strengthening and developing our relationships with the LGPS and corporate pension fund sector and the investment consultant market under Ben’s leadership.”

Shard Credit Partners’ strategy is to become a leading provider of capital to entrepreneur and management-owned companies and private equity-owned companies focused on achieving transformational growth and expansion in the UK regions.  In the past two years, Shard Credit Partners has invested more than £117 million in supporting regional Management Buy-Out transactions and M&A buy-and-build acquisition strategies, as well as growth capital expenditure financing.

 

 

About Shard Credit Partners:

Shard Credit Partners is an alternative investment fund manager focused on private credit strategies in the UK lower mid-market.  Its funds seek to generate superior risk-adjusted returns from conservatively structured senior secured credit investments at low leverage, benefiting from robust documentation and a full suite of financial and non-financial covenants.

Shard Credit Partners is currently investing from its debut direct lending fund Shard Credit Partners Fund I, which held a first close in October 2017 at £90 million.  Shard Credit Partners plans to hold a first close on its second UK lower mid-market direct lending fund during the second half of 2021.  The firm has also recently launched a UK tech venture debt strategy, the only one of its kind.

Shard Credit Partners invests in solid small to medium sized businesses with strong management teams, supporting them by providing transformative growth capital and event driven financing in support of innovation, growth and expansion.  The fund invests in businesses across all sectors and throughout the UK.

The firm has a strong ESG focus; in particular, it is a strong supporter of female entrepreneurs and firms with meaningful female leadership, ownership and senior management.

Recent investments include the financing in support of the acquisition of The Technology Group by Gradwell Communications in March 2021, the MBI of JST Services Ltd in Scotland, the MBO and buy-and-build strategy of eQuality Solutions Ltd in the North-East of England, and the MBO of Chameleon Technology Ltd in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, each of which completed in December 2020.

In 2020, Shard Credit Partners ranked eighth in the Debtwire UK Direct Lender league table published by Acuris.

Investor relations:   IR@shardcreditpartners.com

Business:    info@shardcreditpartners.com

Website:    www.shardcreditpartners.com

Shard Credit Partners provides £8.75 million in support of the acquisition of Technology Solutions Group Limited

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Shard Credit Partners provides a £8.75 million senior secured unitranche financing for the acquisition of The Technology Group by Gradwell Communications, an investee company of Chiltern Capital.

Shard Credit Partners has provided financing of £8.75 million in support of the acquisition of Technology Solutions Group Limited, trading as The Technology Group (“TTG”), by Gradwell Communications Limited (“Gradwell”), an investee company of Chiltern Capital, a private equity firm.

TTG, headquartered in Leeds with 30 staff, was co-founded by father and son team David and Jonathan Marsden in 2011. The business serves a diversified customer base of over 890 SMEs through its provision of a comprehensive end-to-end cloud-based communications offering across Voice over IP, video, chat and collaboration technologies. TTG’s target market is UK SMEs with up to 250 seats as well as larger enterprises such as current customers Sage plc, the NHS Leadership Academy and Specsavers. TTG achieves high levels of customer satisfaction through its role as a strategic partner to clients and its offering has excellent functionality at a competitive price point.

Gradwell which has 73 staff and is based in Bath, Somerset, is a UK focused provider of hosted telephony, connectivity and cloud-based software as a service to SMEs. Gradwell serves a diversified customer base of over 7,800 SME customers. The business provides both 3CX cloud telephony software as well as its own proprietary WAVE software platform and primarily serves customers with up to 50 seats. These services allow SMEs to transition smoothly and efficiently to a flexible, scalable remote working setup with cloud-based functionality that is almost disaster-proof. Gradwell has been operating in the hosting market since its formation in 1998, subsequently developing a SaaS telephony offer in 2004.

Following this strategic acquisition, the combined entity (the “Group”) will provide a comprehensive end-to-end, cloud communications offering across services such as hardware sourcing, private hosted phone systems, business lines and call packages, connectivity and SIP Trunks. The Group will benefit from an overlap in services and technology platforms which will foster achievable synergies and cross-selling opportunities. The acquisition of TTG will place the Group in a strong position to capitalise on the rapidly growing UK cloud communications market, which is forecast to grow at c.18% per annum to an estimated value of £2.1 billion in 2025[1]. The business combination increases the Group’s sweet-spot target market to c.£500 million this year as the Group will roll out high quality solutions across a broader customer base.

Simon Curry, CEO of Gradwell Communications said: “We are excited to have completed this acquisition and welcome TTG to the Group. TTG was our prime acquisition target with a highly complementary proposition offering which serves to broaden the Group’s overall market reach. They have established market-leading capabilities within provisioning and servicing larger 3CX customers; with this transaction, we also can lever Gradwell’s own IP across the wider Group with a clear line of sight of available synergies”.

Alastair Brown, CEO of Shard Credit Partners, commented: “We are delighted to have been able to provide financing support to Chiltern Capital and Simon Curry and his senior management team at Gradwell for this transformational acquisition of TTG.  The combination of these two businesses is based on solid commercial rationale and will enable the creation of a clear market leader in the rapidly growing hosted telecommunications market for UK SMEs nationwide”.

David Butler, Investment Manager at Chiltern Capital said: “Cloud communications has performed strongly during the last 12 months as more customers have moved from on-premise, fixed line systems to VoIP. Bringing TTG and Gradwell under the same ownership creates a compelling UC offering for both SME and mid-market customers. We are pleased to partner with Shard Credit Partners in acquiring TTG and look forward to supporting the combined business as it capitalises on its strong market position, scale and growth momentum.”

Legal advice to Shard Credit Partners was provided by Gateley Legal, led by Partners Andrew Madden and Andrew Cowan who were supported by Christian Wiltshire. Legal advice to Chiltern Capital was provided by Marriott Harrison, led by Andrew Ross and Brett Israel.

Business and transactional tax advice was provided by Ryecroft Glenton’s Business Tax Partner Simon Whiteside and Director, Simon Hopwood. Financial due diligence was provided by HMT Corporate Finance, led by Paul Read.

Shard Credit Partners’ strategy is to become a leading provider of capital to entrepreneur and management-owned companies and private equity-owned companies focused on achieving transformational growth and expansion in the UK regions.  In the past two years, Shard Credit Partners has invested more than £117 million in supporting regional Management Buy-Out transactions and M&A buy-and-build acquisition strategies, as well as growth capital expenditure financing. This transaction with Chiltern Capital represents the first transaction by Shard Credit Partners for a private equity-owned business.

[1] Source: Cavell Group Q2 2020 UK Cloud Communications Report

 

About Shard Credit Partners:

Shard Credit Partners is an alternative investment fund manager focused on private credit strategies in the UK lower mid-market.  Its funds seek to generate superior risk-adjusted returns from conservatively structured senior secured credit investments at low leverage, benefiting from robust documentation and a full suite of financial and non-financial covenants.

Shard Credit Partners is currently investing from its debut direct lending fund Shard Credit Partners Fund I, which held a first close in October 2017 at £90 million.  Shard Credit Partners plans to hold a first close on its second UK lower mid-market direct lending fund during the second half of 2021.

Shard Credit Partners invests in solid small to medium sized businesses with strong management teams, supporting them by providing transformative growth capital and event driven financing in support of innovation, growth and expansion.  The fund invests in businesses across all sectors and throughout the UK.

The firm has a strong ESG focus; in particular, it is a strong supporter of female entrepreneurs and firms with meaningful female leadership, ownership and senior management.

Recent investments include the MBI of JST Services Ltd in Scotland, the MBO and buy-and-build strategy of eQuality Solutions Ltd in the North-East of England, and the MBO of Chameleon Technology Ltd in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, each of which completed in December 2020.

In 2020, Shard Credit Partners ranked eighth in the Debtwire UK Direct Lender league table published by Acuris.

Investor relations:   IR@shardcreditpartners.com

Business:    info@shardcreditpartners.com

Website:    www.shardcreditpartners.com

Shard Credit Partners completes MBO of Chameleon Technology.

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Shard Credit Partners supports MBO of Chameleon Technology (UK) Limited (“Chameleon Technology” or the “Company”) with committed acquisition financing of £12.5 million of senior secured unitranche facility.

 

Shard Credit Partners has provided committed acquisition financing of £12.5 million in support of the primary management buy-out (“MBO”) of Chameleon Technology, led by CEO and co-founder Mike Woodhall together with the senior management team.  The Company was established in 2010 and currently has 47 staff, mainly located at its headquarters in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.  In FY2019, the Company generated revenues and EBITDA of £30.5 million and £3.4 million, respectively (11.1% EBITDA margin).

Chameleon Technology is the leading provider of in-home displays for smart meters in the UK.  The accelerated drive to a decentralised, decarbonised and flexible energy system, underpinned by the ongoing smart meter roll-out, and the Government’s recently published ‘Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’ have created a very fertile landscape that supports and offers significant opportunities to Chameleon Technology.

The Company is well placed to deliver consumer-focused energy optimisation solutions, based on the harnessing of energy data from smart metering systems.  The MBO will enable the business to accelerate its product development roadmap in step with the UK’s strategy to achieve Net Zero targets, where the decarbonisation and digitalisation of every home’s energy solution is a crucial part.

Chameleon Technology was established in 2010 by Mike Woodhall and Gary Martin in response to the UK Government’s mandated smart meter roll-out.  Since inception, the Company has delivered more than six million in-home displays for installation into UK homes by the major consumer energy suppliers.  Chameleon Technology is the largest and most widely distributed smart in-home display supplier in the UK, with an approximate 60% market share.  Despite COVID, it has still managed to deliver more than one million devices this year.  The Company has won numerous awards for innovation and growth and in 2019 achieved record sales of more than £30 million.

Mike Woodhall, co-founder and CEO said: “I am delighted to have completed this management buy-out of Chameleon Technology with the substantial financial backing of Shard Credit Partners.  My co-founder, Gary Martin, with whom I have had a fantastic twelve-year working relationship, and the other exiting shareholders, can look back and be proud of what we’ve achieved together.  I am grateful for their support in helping to grow the business to this enviable market position.  Looking forward, we have an ambitious strategic plan in place which will answer the requirements and leverage the opportunities of the transformation of the energy system in this and other countries.  The management team has been working hard to achieve the business’ goals for many years and has the experience, optimism, energy and motivation to deliver even more confident plans.

In 2020 Chameleon reached its ten-year anniversary.  At this milestone, and against the backdrop of supportive government policy and the energy system transformation, it is the perfect time to put control of the company more in the hands of the management team.  We will be bolder and more determined than ever and will move quickly to capitalise on new opportunities and partnerships.  I am excited to be leading the Chameleon team on our journey to achieving our ambitious plans.”

Co-founder Mike Woodhall will step up from Managing Director to CEO of Chameleon Technology and will continue to focus on value growth and the strategic direction of the business.  Craig Stephenson, who joined the business in early 2017, joins the Board as Chief Commercial Officer.  Craig will continue to manage customer relationships and business development and to further develop new strategic partnerships.  Wendi Higgins will become Company Secretary and continue as General Counsel and will also join the Chameleon Board – its first female board member.  Wendi’s strategic input will become increasingly critical as the business navigates the complexities of strategic partnerships and data and cloud solutions.  Founding team member and current Head of Marketing Jennifer Woodhall will become Marketing and Communications Director and will lead an increased focus on customer, partner and new business development communications in 2021.

Shard Credit Partners CEO Alastair Brown said: “Chameleon Technology has created an impressive business and enviable market position in its first ten years.  The Company has a unique opportunity to capitalise on a supportive regulatory landscape and further develop its technical solutions to provide value to customers, partners and end users, as well as developing new initiatives and relationships. We are excited to be supporting Mike and the senior management team in pursuit of Chameleon Technology’s ambitious plans and to facilitate continued growth and success for the business.”

Legal advice to Shard Credit Partners was provided by Gateley Legal, led by Banking and Finance Partner Andrew Madden supported by Christian Wiltshire.  Legal due diligence and corporate advice was provided by Partner Andrew Cowan, with the support of Matt Flint.  Tax legal advice was provided by David Williams and Jim Hillan.

Shard Credit Partners was advised by Ryecroft Glenton Corporate Finance in Newcastle, led by Nick Johnson and supported by Alex Simpson.  Financial and tax due diligence was provided by Ryecroft Glenton, led by Grahame Maughan, Andrew Cameron and Jon Routledge.  Tax structuring advice was provided by Ryecroft Glenton tax Partner Simon Whiteside.

This transaction is the eighth consecutive buy-out transaction financed by Shard Credit Partners in the North of the UK in the past two years, making the alternative investment firm one of the most active institutional investors in the Northern UK regions currently.  It is also the third investment completed by Shard Credit Partners during December 2020.

Shard Credit Partners’ strategy is to become a leading provider of capital to entrepreneur and management-owned companies focused on achieving transformational growth and expansion for high growth SMEs in the UK regions.  In the past two years, Shard Credit Partners has invested more than £100 million in supporting regional Management Buy-Out transactions and M&A buy-and-build acquisition strategies, as well as growth capital expenditure financing.

 

About Shard Credit Partners:

Shard Credit Partners is an alternative investment fund manager focused on private credit strategies in the UK lower mid-market.  Its funds seek to generate superior risk-adjusted returns from conservatively structured senior secured credit investments at low leverage, benefiting from robust documentation and a full suite of financial and non-financial covenants.  Shard Credit Partners is currently investing from its debut direct lending fund Shard Credit Partners Fund I, which held a first close in October 2017 at £90 million.  Shard Credit Partners plans to hold a first close on its second UK lower mid-market direct lending fund during the first half of 2021.

Shard Credit Partners invests in solid small to medium sized businesses with strong management teams, supporting them by providing transformative growth capital and event driven financing in support of innovation, growth and expansion.  The fund invests in businesses across all sectors and throughout the UK.  The firm has a strong ESG focus; in particular, it is a strong supporter of female entrepreneurs and firms with meaningful female leadership and senior management.

Recent investments include the innovative double MBO of BW Legal and PRAC Financial in Leeds, which was named by Insider Media as their Deal of the Month for February 2019.  In the same month the fund also backed the primary MBO of GadCap Technical Solutions Ltd in Newcastle.  In September 2019, Shard Credit Partners completed the MBO of Alexander Technologies Europe Limited in Peterlee, County Durham named by Insider Media to the short list for North East Private Equity/Venture Capital Deal of the Year 2020.  In March 2020, Shard Credit Partners backed the MBO of Jackson Lees Group in Merseyside by its senior management team.  In December 2020, Shard Credit Partners completed the MBI of Scottish port services company JST Services (Scotland) Limited, its first investment in Scotland and the MBO of eQuality Solutions Ltd in Hebburn, Tyne and Wear.