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GCP caps a successful year with a £40m investment from British Business Bank Investments Ltd to complete the final close of Fund IV at £205m

Press release 10 July 2017

Growth Capital Partners (GCP), a leading lower mid-market investor in UK SMEs, and British Business Bank Investments Ltd (BBBIL), the commercial arm of the British Business Bank, are pleased to announce a £40 million investment from British Business Bank Investments Ltd, completing the final close of GCP’s fourth fund ‘Growth Capital Partners Fund IV LP’.

The Fund exceeded its target of £200m with commitments from a diverse investor base of U.K., European and U.S. institutional investors, including public pension funds, insurance companies and investment management groups. Existing investors showed strong continued support, with 80% making further investments, and six new UK and European investors have also been welcomed into the Fund.

This close caps a significant year for GCP. In the last 12 months five new investments have been made across the UK; Fund III continues to outperform with two strong exits to financial and trade buyers; three team members have joined the firm and a total of £100 million pounds has been committed to supporting UK SMEs.

GCP’s distinctive, flexible approach gives it the ability to provide all of the funding in a deal and its partnership style is focused on working with ambitious, like-minded management teams to enhance the value of their businesses.

GCP will continue to pursue investment opportunities between £5m and £30m with entrepreneurial management teams. The Fund close enables the team to continue its distinct and differentiated strategy of making buy-out and growth capital investments in the UK lower mid-market, across a range of sectors.

GCP has been advised by Macfarlanes LLP and Atlantic Pacific Capital.

We are delighted with the continued support from our existing investors and pleased to welcome new partners such as British Business Bank Investments Ltd into the Fund. Investors were very receptive to GCP’s differentiated strategy in the UK lower middle market, which has generated consistently strong returns since 2000. With four investments already in the portfolio Fund IV is off to a promising start and we remain committed to investing in UK SMEs – a key driver of the UK economy. Garrett Curran Managing Partner of Growth Capital Partners
Our participation in GCP’s fourth fund will enable additional capital to be invested in promising UK-based SMEs that require growth capital to scale up successfully. GCP’s approach of providing a combination of debt and equity finance meets our objective of promoting greater diversity in the supply of funding solutions for smaller businesses. Catherine Lewis La Torre CEO, British Business Bank Investments Ltd

Further Information

Notes to editors

Growth Capital Partners LLP:

Growth Capital Partners (GCP) is an independent private equity company which invests in growing UK SMEs. Its distinctive, flexible approach gives GCP the ability to provide all of the funding in a deal and its partnership style is focused on working with ambitious, like-minded management teams to enhance the value of their businesses. GCP has a long track record of specialist investing in UK SMEs and is currently investing GCP Fund IV. GCP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

British Business Bank Investments Ltd:

British Business Bank Investments Ltd is the commercial arm of the British Business Bank. It aims to earn a commercial return by investing – through finance providers – in smaller businesses and small mid-caps, pursuing investments on a fully commercial basis without receiving any advantage from the government. Find out more at www.bbinv.co.uk.

British Business Bank Investments Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the UK government’s economic development bank, registered in England and Wales, registration number 09091930, registered office at Foundry House, 3 Millsands, Sheffield, S3 8NH. Neither entity is authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

British Business Bank:

The British Business Bank is the UK’s national economic development bank.  Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. Our remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

British Business Bank programmes support more than £3.4bn of finance to more than 54,000 smaller businesses and participate in a further £5.1bn finance to small mid-cap businesses (as at end January 2017).

As well as increasing both supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of the finance options, including asset finance, available to smaller businesses. It has published the Business Finance Guide (in partnership with the ICAEW, and a further 21 business and finance organisations). This guide impartially sets out the range finance options available to businesses – from start-ups to SMEs and growing mid-sized companies.

Take the interactive journey at www.thebusinessfinanceguide.co.uk/bbb or download/print a copy.

British Business Bank plc is a limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Foundry House, 3 Millsands, Sheffield, S3 8NH.

As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, it is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government which is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Business Bank operates under its own brand name through a number of subsidiaries, one of which is authorised and regulated by the FCA.

More information, including a legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries, can be found on the British Business Bank website.