Gresham House extends Irish presence with new €65mn vehicle

Gresham House has launched a new €65 million (stg£60 million) Irish-registered investment vehicle to enable institutional investors to invest in and support high-potential fast-growing companies in Ireland and the UK.

Gresham House Private Equity Release LP, registered in Ireland, has successfully raised just shy of stg£60 million, in excess of its original stg£50 million target, raising capital from pension funds, corporate and private investors in Ireland and the UK.

The fund complements Gresham House’s existing investment strategy and broadens the group’s capabilities. It will seek to provide secondary capital into established portfolio companies of Gresham House’s existing venture capital trusts (VCTs), Mobeus and Baronsmead, enabling an immediate and vibrant pipeline of opportunities into which capital can be swiftly deployed.

New capital is intended to offer liquidity to company founders, legacy shareholders, and angel investors, increasing Gresham House’s overall managed share to support companies as they continue to increase in scale.

It will also have the flexibility to provide secondary, buyout or acquisition capital into new investment opportunities or to co-invest alongside the VCTs into new investment opportunities where there is a requirement for both primary and secondary capital.

Targeting a relatively underserved segment of the vibrant small private company market in Ireland and the UK, the fund will make investments of approximately €1 million to €10 million in 10-15 growing businesses with strong underlying profitability and enterprise values of between €10 million and €60 million.

It will also benefit from Gresham House’s existing scale and experience in the venture capital space. Gresham House Ventures, the company’s growth equity division, is the second largest VCT manager in the UK with around €900 million (£800 million) in assets under management across its Baronsmead and Mobeus VCTs.

The launch builds on Gresham House’s existing offering for institutional investors, which includes funds investing in forestry, real estate, and new energy technologies. It follows the recent launch of the Gresham House Secure Income Renewable Energy and Storage LP, which invests in collocated renewable and battery storage projects in the UK.

Patrick Lawless, Managing Director, Gresham House Ireland, said:

“Gresham House has a wealth of international expertise of the private equity sector built up over many years and we’re delighted to bring this expertise to Ireland. This new fund will offer an attractive source of capital for ambitious, fast-growing, and well-managed Irish businesses as well as for similar businesses in the UK.

We’re continuing to broaden Gresham House’s range of activities in Ireland by adding to our existing investment management, real estate, and sustainable investment activities for Irish investors.

We’re actively looking to match a new group of investors to Irish and UK businesses that need capital to grow. 

By taking the innovative approach of investing alongside our fantastic venture capital trusts, we are enabling founders to access greater liquidity, which we know is an acute challenge in the current economic climate, while opening up a diverse range of compelling opportunities to institutional investors.”

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