Connection Capital, the specialist private client investment business, has appointed Lucy Merson as Investment Manager and Laura Scott as Investment Executive, as appetite from private investors for access to Private Equity and Private Debt investments continues to increase.
- Lucy Merson joins from BDO and Laura Scott joins from Grant Thornton
- Appointments support increased appetite from private investors for access to UK SME private equity and debt transactions
Lucy joins from BDO, where she qualified as a chartered accountant before working in audit and then corporate finance, specifically focused on advising high growth businesses seeking funding.
Lucy comments: “I have seen first-hand how important it is for businesses to find the right partner to guide them through the private equity journey. A good private equity investor not only provides the ever-important capital investment, but also acts as a sounding board, helping management teams to push themselves further and grow their business and achieve a successful exit.”
Laura Scott joins from Grant Thornton’s corporate finance team, where she specialised in providing transaction advisory services to SMEs on both the buy-side and sell-side, in a wide range of sectors, including a secondment at Pimlico Plumbers where she worked on its recent sale.
Laura comments: “I’ve experienced first-hand the hard work and personal commitment it takes to grow a business. I’m excited to help Connection Capital’s investee companies realise their efforts and be a part of enhancing them further.”
Lucy and Laura will support the existing team in originating and executing new Private Equity and Private Debt funded management buyout and growth capital transactions.
The two new appointments follow a highly active 2021 for Connection Capital LLP’s investment team including the £8m MBO of Pickford’s Pharmacies; a £6.75m investment into medical devices manufacturer MatOrtho; and the acquisition of historic Stockport hotel, Bredbury Hall, alongside the successful exits of Carter Accommodation and Virgin Wines, which generated returns of 4x and 8x respectively.
Bernard Dale, Managing Partner commented “The appointment of Lucy and Laura to our established investment team means that we can push on and increase our investment rate to match the demand from our clients, who have received some excellent capital gains recently. It shows the confidence we have in our portfolio, our investment model and UK SMEs”
Connection Capital’s Direct Investments team is comprised of its Private Equity and Private Debt offerings, targeting high-quality, profitable SMEs with professional management teams and an established track record. As one of the UK’s most active SME investors with a sector agnostic approach, Connection Capital invests cheques of £3-10m into companies generating over £1m EBITDA across the UK, with enterprise values of £10-40m. Investments are structured without fund rule restrictions to suit each business using the most flexible capital in the UK, from Connection Capital’s investor clients.
About Connection Capital
Connection Capital LLP is a Financial Conduct Authority authorised and regulated, specialist syndicator of investment funds from private professional investors into direct private equity, private debt and commercial property deals, as well as alternative asset funds. It currently has some £360 million of funds under management across a diverse portfolio.
Connection Capital provides a specialist managed service to help professional clients build up their own alternative asset portfolios. Private investors self-select which opportunities they want to take a stake in. Opportunities are identified and negotiated by Connection Capital, which also carries out all due diligence and manages the investment from completion through to exit, on its clients’ behalf.
Press enquiries:
Claire Madden
Partner
Connection Capital
020 3696 4010 or 07764 241476
Russell O’Connor
Headlines for Business
07760 282586