Searchlight Capital Partners offers to acquire Gresham House for £469.8 million
LONDON, UK: Seed Bidco Limited, a newly incorporated entity formed by funds advised by Searchlight Capital Partners L.P. has made a final cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Gresham House at the rate of 1,105 pence in cash per Gresham House share.
The acquisition values the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Gresham House at approximately £469.8 million on a fully diluted basis and values Gresham House at approximately £440.6 million on an enterprise value basis.
Searchlight Capital Partners is a highly experienced investor in the financial services sector having invested in Global Risk Partners, Shift4 and Sightline Payments, Euclid Transactional and the Netspend consumer business. Searchlight is attracted by Gresham House’s position as one of the UK’s leading asset managers in sustainable alternative asset classes, which show strong investor interest and allocation; believes that Gresham House has established a robust platform for future growth, underpinned by its track record of delivering strong investment returns for its clients across multiple strategies, asset classes and regions.
Since the management buy-in of Gresham House by certain members of the current management team in late 2014, Gresham House has been transformed from a loss-making investment company into a profitable, leading specialist alternative asset manager focused on sustainable investments across a range of strategies, with expertise covering forestry, real estate, sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy, battery storage and public and private equity.
Today, Gresham House actively manages approximately £8 billion of assets, across a footprint that spans the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, on behalf of institutions, charities and endowments, family offices, private individuals and their advisers.
Commenting on the Acquisition, Anthony Townsend, Chairman of Gresham House, said: “Since the management buy-in in 2014, Gresham House has been transformed into a leading specialist alternative asset manager. Today’s offer delivers shareholders a 4x return over this period. The Gresham House Board believes that it represents a compelling opportunity in the current challenging economic environment for shareholders to realise, with certainty, Gresham House’s potential for long-term future value creation.
“The acquisition by Searchlight starts a new and exciting chapter for Gresham House. We are confident that Searchlight will accelerate our international and domestic growth strategy and their long-term capital and global expertise will support and enhance our investment teams’ ability to deliver returns to clients”.
Commenting on the Acquisition, James Redmayne, Partner at Searchlight Capital Partners UK, LLP, said: “We are excited to invest in Gresham House and partner with Tony Dalwood and his highly talented management team. Their achievements in building Gresham House over the past eight years to its position as a leading Natural Capital and Sustainability focused asset manager have been hugely impressive”.
Giles Marshall, Partner at Searchlight Capital Partners UK, LLP, added: “We very much look forward to supporting the team in the coming years, both through capital to help drive their organic and inorganic growth plans, as well as providing access to Searchlight’s extensive international network”.
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