SCOTTISH business veteran Billy Allan has launched a £92 million fund to invest in small to mid-sized support services firms across the UK.
Mr Allan, who built up UK facilities management group EJ Stiell before selling it to Alfred McAlpine in 2002, has formed the Aliter Capital 1 fund with a group of “seasoned support services entrepreneurs”.
These include Greig Brown, a former chief executive of Europa and Emcor, former Stiell and Europa commercial director Andy Galloway, and private equity professional Andrew Busby, once of HIG Capital and Brookfield.
Aliter marked its launch by announcing its first investment has been made in Edwin James Holdings, a Glasgow-based engineering group. The value of the investment was not disclosed, although Aliter noted it makes investments of up to £20m in businesses with an enterprise value of £10m to £50m.
Mr Allan, who chairs Bowleven and built up global logistics business ASCO Group before its sale to Doughty Hanson in 2012, said: “The support services sector is dynamic, with many small and mid-sized businesses performing well in their regions and sub sectors.
“We believe there is a huge opportunity to find and grow these businesses to create national operators and market leaders.
“We can offer these businesses a powerful combination of equity investment and hands on experienced operational support, to help them grow and create value for shareholders that are looking to stay on with their businesses or de-risk their positions through a sale.”
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