Equity Ventures Limited

Venture Capital for expansion and Management Buy-Outs.

"Turning managers into owners"

Equity Ventures is a venture capital investor and arranger. We run a regional venture capital fund in the UK and co-run two venture capital trusts (VCTs). Both VCTs are publicly quoted companies on the London Stock Exchange.

We make and arrange venture capital investments of up to £100 million. Our most recent large transaction was the MBO of Hargreaves Services which floated on the AiM market at a capitalisation of some £60m (Symbol HSP.L).  A recent small transaction was the £250,000 investment in Zoggs - a brand of swimming goggles and sportswear. 

We are interested in UK management teams looking for expansion capital and  management teams keen to do buy-outs or buy-ins of companies with annual sales in excess of £2 million.

You can approach us with just an idea for a transaction; an executive summary; or a full business plan. We'll come back to you pretty quickly if we're interested.

If you would like to know more about venture capital and how to raise it, then please call David Tallboys on 020 7665 6611; or e-mail david@equityventures.co.uk; or write to us at 23 Berkeley Square, London  W1J 6HE.

What is your company worth? 
The Equity Ventures MBO model is a useful tool which has been used to structure many MBOs. It also shows how the future exit value will be shared between the management team and the venture capitalists. Try it online or ask us to send you a copy.

For MBOs:    Try our MBO valuation model online now   

For expansion capital:    Try our expansion model online now  

 

What to include in your Business Plan  Go to the Business Plan Guide

How to raise venture capital:  See our quick way
 

Equity Ventures Limited
23 Berkeley Square
London  W1J 6HE
Tel: 020 7665 6611

E-mail: Equity Ventures Limited

Equity Ventures Limited is authorised by the Financial Services Authority

Equity Ventures Limited       -     What we do

Equity Ventures is a British venture capital firm with offices in London and Cheltenham. It is regulated by the Financial Services Authority, and is a member of the British Venture Capital Association.

Equity Ventures' joint managing directors have some 30 years experience as principal investors working for major venture capital companies.

Equity Ventures has funds to invest in companies in its roles as an investment advisor to the British Smaller Companies Venture Capital Trust plc, the British Smaller Technology Companies Venture Capital Trust plc, and as the fund manager of the HSBC UK Enterprise Fund for the South West. Transactions are led or co-led.

The HSBC UK Enterprise Fund for the South West, originated by HSBC Bank plc, was set up to bridge the "Equity Gap" which exists for smaller companies. Investors in the Fund include Western Power, Midlands Power, The European Investment Bank, and HSBC Bank.

The British Smaller Technology Companies VCT is a suitable source of venture capital for growth oriented technology companies particularly those in IT, engineering, and life sciences.

The British Smaller Companies VCT is a suitable source of venture capital for companies with at least two years audited trading history, annual sales of more than £2 million, and gross assets of at least £1 million.

For transactions requiring more than £2 million in equity we assemble investors from a select panel of venture capital funds.
 

Equity Ventures - The Team

David M. Tallboys 
David Tallboys graduated from the LSE with a BSc Honours degree in Economics and International Relations. He also gained a Masters degree in Business Analysis at Lancaster University in after which he worked with Price Waterhouse in London for two years before going to Bahrain with Ernst & Young. This was followed by two years in South America working mostly in Rio de Janeiro for BIAS, a Brazilian consultancy firm with whom he structured one of the first MBOs in Brazil.

Following a year as a customer services manager in the Granada Group, he joined Kleinwort Benson in London working with its corporate banking group involved in lending to management buy-outs. In 1987 he joined Schroder Ventures where he was involved in structuring large buy-outs for both quoted and unquoted companies. In 1990 he started working for Security Pacific Hoare Govett Equity Ventures and was involved in extensive re-negotiations and assessment of new deals on its behalf. In 1992 Equity Ventures did its own buy-out since when it has been independent with David Tallboys as an MD and joint shareholder   

Robert M. Lindemann 
Robert Lindemann is a US citizen who has lived in Europe most of his life and speaks fluent French as well as a number of other European languages. After graduating from Christ Church, Oxford with an Honours degree in Politics Philosophy and Economics, he worked for the First National Bank of Boston in London before attending INSEAD. He worked as a management consultant with Ernst & Young and subsequently as a private consultant advising industrial companies.

After spending two years with the Mergers and Acquisitions group of Security Pacific Bank he moved to Hoare Govett in 1982 having worked on the acquisition by Security Pacific of its 30% stake in Hoare Govett, the first example of a foreign firm investing in a member of The Stock Exchange. He was Senior Vice President of Hoare Govett Incorporated, latterly with specific responsibility for Europe, and was instrumental in forming Security Pacific Hoare Govett Equity Ventures, which he joined as a Director in April 1987 and he was directly involved in all its investment activity before arranging the buy-out of Equity Ventures of which he is an MD and joint shareholder.

William Buist-Wells

A sample of institutions that have worked with the Equity Ventures team:

Alchemy, Apax Partners, Bridgepoint Capital, CinVen, Barclays Capital,
Prudential Ventures, 3i, Saudi International, Charterhouse, Citicorp Venture Capital, Mercury, Hg, Permira, Schroder Ventures, Graphite, Phoenix Fund Managers, CWB Capital Partners, Hambro European Ventures, Causeway Capital, ECI Ventures, Brown Shipley, Lloyds Development Capital, Bankers Trust, Legal & General Ventures, Candover, Baring Capital Investors, Chase Manhattan, Elders Finance, National Westminster Bank, Montagu Private Equity, Deutsche Kleinwort, Electra, Intermediate Capital, Henderson, SifCorp, Mezzanine Management, Aberdeen Murray Johnstone, Doughty Hanson, HSBC Private Equity.
 
 

Equity Ventures is authorised by the Financial Services Authority

Equity Ventures - track record

Deals where Equity Ventures directors have been investors

Clares Equipment (£29m MBO, Lead investor) MBO from Guinness PLC.
Compass Group (£160m MBO, Syndicate investor) Exited from by flotation at 41.5% IRR.
Associated Fresh Foods (£68m MBO, Joint underwriter) Exit by sale at 41.8% IRR.
UNS Holdings (£27m MBO, Syndicate investor) 270 retail news shops.
Venture Plant (£11m MBO, Joint underwriter) Machinery and plant hire group.
RHP bearings (£72m MBI, Syndicate investor) Exited from by sale at an IRR of 131.1%.
York Trailer (£60m MBO, Syndicate investor) Manufacturer of trailers in UK and Italy.
Vickers Furniture (£40m MBO, Lead manager) Exited from by sale at 121.5% IRR.
Admiral Homes (£75m start-up, Syndicate investor) Builder of homes in south-east England.
SG Industries (£68m MBI, Syndicate investor) Specialist steel products in UK and USA.
London Clubs (£120m MBO, Joint underwriter) Gaming operations, exit by flotation.
VCI (£91m MBO, Joint underwriter) Exit by flotation.

Sheffield Forgemasters (£42m MBO, Lead Investor) Buy-out from British Steel.
Textilion (£5m MBI, Lead Investor) Exit by sale to Hollas Group.
Goldsmiths Group (£44m MBO, Lead investor) Exit by flotation.
Glass Glover (£66m MBO, Lead investor) Exit by sale to Unigate.
Aynsley Group (£18m MBO, Syndicate bank) Buy-out from Waterford Wedgwood.

IRG Odgers Ray & Berndtson (£2m MBI, lead investor, exit at 32.5% IRR plus retained stake).

Goldcrest Homes (£1m expansion capital, exit at 25% IRR)

Baynflax (£2m MBI)

Zoggs (£3m expansion capital, investor) Distributor of fashion swimwear and goggles in the UK and overseas. 

Deals where Equity Ventures has been corporate finance adviser

Hargreaves - MBO
We arranged MBO finance for this £80m turnover UK company which is primarily involved in moving coal from ports to power stations and waste handling. The deal size was £20m and we helped management achieve an 80% shareholding. The company recently floated on AiM at a market capitalisation of some £60m.

Aspect - MBI
We successfully completed a management buy-in of two international language school businesses in the UK and USA by raising US$25m from Warburg Pincus who we selected having also generated competing offers from Advent, Alchemy, ECI, Graphite, and Mercury.

Cammell Laird MBO
We worked with a management team and got £8m of venture capital for the MBO bid for Cammell Laird's ship repair yards.

Spink
We worked with a management team and got £7m of finance for the MBI bid for Spink's Coins, Medals and Stamps in a divestment from Christies

Bohlin Instruments Group - MBO/MBI
Equity Ventures advised the management and secured venture capital and bank finance for the £1m  MBO/MBI of this scientific instruments group with operating companies in the UK, US, and Germany. Bohlin was formerly owned by Bowthorpe plc. We recently helped the company and management team exit by sale to Malvern Instruments.

Go Plant - MBO
Equity Ventures arranged the deal, advised the management and secured £4m of finance for the MBO of the leading UK road sweeping equipment hire company. Go Plant was formerly owned by AAH plc and by Tarmac plc.

Rank Hotels - MBI
Securing £75m offers of finance for the proposed MBI of the hotel division of The Rank Organisation plc.

VCI plc
Assisted company in selecting sponsors for its £60m GBP flotation.

Exhibition Company - MBO/MBI
Assisted in the selection of a lead investor for this potential £30m UK/US transaction.

Lands End - MBO
Obtained offers of finance for the potential MBO of this well known leisure company.

Goldcrest Homes - Development Capital
Obtained offer of finance for this specialist house builder. We also made a VCT investment in the company.

Anagen plc
Advised company management on discussions with venture capitalists and preparation of the business plan for potential flotation sponsors of this bio-technology company.

Equity Ventures - Business Plan Guide

The business plan should be clear, factually correct, and easy to read. Expensive binding and colour
photographs are not necessary.

Executive summary
This section should be capable of standing alone if necessary, and summarise the main points of the other sections. Summary financials should include the last 12 months sales and profits and the current balance sheet. Tip: if you do not get the executive summary right the rest of the plan will not even be read - we can help management teams prepare a good executive summary.

Description of the company
Include its history, principal products and their distinguishing features. Give the reasons for sale or changes in ownership. Show the current ownership.

Strategy and objectives
Growth expectations, reasons for fundamental changes in the industry.

Market analysis and sales
Overall view of the industry, margins, competition, customers, and marketing plans.
Describe the sales cycle and order levels.

Research and development
Future products, new technology, patents and copyrights, regulatory requirements.

Manufacturing/operations
Fixed assets, production capacity, suppliers. Seasonality, and how it can be overcome.

Management and employees
Key managers, organisation structure (including positions vacant), number of other employees, labour relations.

Funds required
Explain how the funds will be used and the requirement for working capital - especially if there are seasonal variations.

Management reporting systems
Controls, financial information, budgeting process. Will the system cope with the expansion planned?

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT analysis)
Produce a candid assessment of the company's competitive position.

Financial information (preferably separate)
Historical accounts, and projections (including balance sheets) for three years with details of assumptions and sensitivities. Highlight cash flow, profitability, borrowings of all types, and capital expenditure requirements. Include a current balance sheet or statement of affairs showing all creditors, liabilities and borrowings. 

Appendices
CVs of managers, product brochures, press comment.

Equity Ventures - How to raise venture capital
 
 

Questions:

Thinking about a management buy-out?

How do you make the first approach?

What is the business worth?

How much should you pay?

Will you get more than 50% of the company?

How much money must you personally invest?

Answer:

Call Equity Ventures; tell us about yourself, and about the industry, sales, and profits of the business you would like to buy.  We will tell you if we think there is a good chance of you getting a deal. If we really think it is a good opportunity we will arrange to meet with you as soon as possible.