Announcement of Joint-Venture with Shackleton Ventures
We are acutely aware of the lengthening holding periods in private equity and the pressing need to achieve liquidity events for both investors and management teams. We observe that the decline in M&A volumes has made it necessary for companies seeking exits to evidence the merits of an acquisition much more clearly by demonstrating strategic relevance and financial sustainability. These factors require the application of specialist resources and skills.
In this context, we are very pleased to announce that we have entered into a joint-venture agreement with Shackleton Ventures. Shackleton is a well-established secondary investor in UK private companies; buying existing holdings with a sharp focus on achieving a profitable exit. We first became aware of Shackleton in 2013 when it guided NanoSight Limited to its $24m acquisition by Malvern Instruments. Our clients who had invested in NanoSight achieved a 3x return, which happens to be the same average rate of return enjoyed by Shackleton’s investors across its four funds and more than 25 exits.
Shackleton’s Managing Partner is Deborah Hudson. After graduating with the Henry Ford II Engineering Scholarship from Imperial College, she achieved an MBA with distinction at INSEAD. Deborah worked in the technology department of British Gas plc before gaining ten years of international strategy consulting experience with McKinsey. Since co-founding Shackleton in 2006, she has served on the boards of over 20 growth businesses. Deborah currently chairs Northern Venture Trust plc.
Shackleton’s representative with responsibility for the joint-venture arrangements is Adrian Foulger, Portfolio Director. He qualified as an ACA at EY. Between 1993 and 2015 he was a small and mid-cap equity research analyst at Flemmings, Cazenove and Standard Chartered based in London, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Between 2015 and 2017 he established a Singapore office for Cenkos. More recently, his primary roles have focused on corporate advisory, sustainability and business development.
Under the terms of the JV agreement, Shackleton will undertake the mentoring and reporting on our eleven equity capital raising corporate clients, which are Acamar Films, AllAccem, BioQ Pharma, Duuzra, Elemental Herbology, Interrad, Izon, Mous, Pets’ Kitchen, Rheon Labs and Vable. Shackleton might enter into advisory arrangements with some of these companies. Company updates will be shown on webpages that can be accessed via this link (unquoted companies). As Shackleton develops its engagements with the companies, it will also become involved in follow-on fundraisings and will ensure that our clients receive details of these transactions.
Our JV with Shackleton will not change the way in which we conduct our fixed income business.
Shackleton does not intend to charge our clients for its services. Its motivation to enter into the JV is to broaden its network of corporate and investor relationships ahead of the launch of a new direct secondaries fund in 2025. Clearly, while market conditions are very difficult for longstanding investors in companies, they are excellent for secondary investment that provides liquidity to existing shareholders. This means Shackleton can select the very best opportunities and agree attractive terms. While buying well is important, Shackleton’s past successes mostly result from the subsequent support it gives to managers as they steer their companies to profitable exits. You will be given the opportunity to meet Shackleton and learn about its approach and plans for a new fund in due course.
If you have any questions about this development, please contact Adrian ([email protected]) or Andrew ([email protected]).
