Risk Capital Partners

Risk Capital Partners LLP is a London-based private equity firm, co-founded in 2001 by Ben Redmond and Luke Johnson. The firm invests in numerous sectors, including leisure, retail, media, healthcare, IT services, financial services and support services.

Risk Capital Partners LLP

Type	Private
Industry	Finance
Founded	London, United Kingdom (2001 (2001))
Area served	Firms located in the UK only
Key people	Luke Johnson, Ben Redmond, Michael Simmonds
Services	Private equity funds, Leveraged buyouts, Growth capital, Management buy-in funding
Number of employees	6
Website	www.riskcapitalpartners.co.uk

Investment profile

Risk Capital Partners mainly provides growth capital investment, taking minority or majority positions in established, profitable, mid-market UK companies and typically contributing £3-£15 million per investment.

The firm is currently investing a ten-year £75m fund on behalf of pension funds, life companies and specialist fund investors, including £25m provided by Risk Capital's own partners.[1] The firm has participated in a range of investment situations, including development capital for organic growth, management buyouts, shareholder restructuring, company turnarounds and the acquisition/de-listing of public companies.

Current investments

• APT Controls - car parking and traffic management systems
• DWS Automotive Repair Solutions - vehicle bodyshops
• Gails - retail bakery and cafe
• Greyhound Racing Association - owner of greyhound stadia
• Neilson Active Holidays - Activity holiday provider bought from Thomas Cook in 2013 [2]
• Superbrands - media and publishing
• Synarbor - educational recruitment
• The Bread Factory - wholesale artisan bakery
• Tile Depot - retailer of floor and wall tiles

Former investments

Investment	Exited	Company Description	Ref.
Giraffe	2013	In 2004 Risk Capital Partners provided development capital to accelerate the expansion of the Giraffe family-restaurant chain. Giraffe was sold to supermarket chain Tesco in March 2013 for a multiple of 8x RCP's original valuation.	[3]
East	2012	Risk Capital Partners invested in ladies fashion retailer East as part of a consortium which took a 50% stake in the company; Risk Capital completed the sale of its stake in 2012 for 1x cost.	[4]
Interquest Group	2010	Risk Capital Partners backed the founder in 2001 with development capital to support the acquisition of a series of businesses in the IT recruitment sector, before selling its shares in 2010 and realising a return on investment of 2.8x.	[5]
Seafood Holdings	2010	In 2006 Risk Capital Partners funded Seafood Holdings' acquisition drive to build a national distribution capacity. During the firm’s investment, Seafood Holdings made eight acquisitions and grew revenue from £35 million to £80 million. In 2010 the business was sold to Bidvest for £45 million.	[6][7]
Integrated Dental Holdings	2006	In 2004 Risk Capital Partners funded a take-private deal of the AIM-listed Integrated Dental Holdings, prior to a management buy-out in 2006. The MBO realised a IRR of over 400% and an overall return of 10x.	[8]
Loewy Group	2006	Marketing services group Loewy was backed by RCP in 2004 further to a series of acquisitions of PR, research, design and branding companies. These combined upon exit to achieve a cash multiple of 2.5x and an IRR of 43%.	[9]
Mayfair Bingo	2006	RCP funded the 2004 management buy-out of Mayfair Bingo (trading as Riva Bingo halls). The business was sold in April 2006 to Hermes Private Equity, realising a return of 2.3x and an IRR of 59%.	[10]
Signature Restaurants	2005	Risk Capital Partners funded the public-to-private of Signature Restaurants, the owner of a number of London restaurants including The Ivy and Le Caprice. During this time management also created the Strada pizza restaurant brand. Signature was sold in 2005, realising a 7.7x return on equity.	[11]

See also

• Luke Johnson (businessman)

References

1. "Risk Capital closes first fund". PE Hub. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
2. "Former Pizza Express chairman buys Neilson Active Holidays". theguardian.com. Retrieved 15 Jan 2015.
3. "Tesco Buys Giraffe Restaurants". BBC News. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
4. Mesure, Susie (2 March 2006). "Luke Johnson goes East and buys stake in bohemian chain". London: The Independent. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
5. "Double Exit for Risk Capital". GrowthBusiness.co.uk. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
6. "Private equity group link with seafood distributors in major new deal". FoodQS.com. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
7. "Double Exit for Risk Capital". GrowthBusiness.co.uk. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
8. . RCP website
9. "Risk Capital Partners exits design and marketing company Loewy". Unquote.com. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
10. "City Sandwich". London: Daily Telegraph. 4 April 2006. Retrieved 20 March 2013. In the leisure sector it emerged that Luke Johnson's private equity vehicle Risk Capital Partners has sold bingo company Mayfair Gaming to Hermes Private Equity for an undisclosed sum. Deloitte Corporate Finance and Linklaters advised Hermes Private Equity on the deal.
11. "Rag trade baron who has never owned a restaurant buys The Ivy for £21m". London: The Independent. 5 June 2005. Retrieved 20 March 2013.