Gresham House acquires Mobeus VCT business

Gresham House has agreed to acquire the Venture Capital Trust (VCT) business (£369m AUM) of Mobeus Equity Partners (Mobeus).

The deal, which is expected to be completed in the next four weeks, comprises four VCT contracts: Mobeus Income & Growth VCT, Mobeus Income & Growth 2 VCT, Mobeus Income & Growth 4 VCT and The Income & Growth VCT.

The acquisition will see Gresham House become a leading player in the VCT segment, with approximately £850m of assets across its VCT range.

Each of the Mobeus and the Baronsmead VCT brands will retain their unique identities to offer investors the choice of two high-quality offerings. The Mobeus VCTs’ focus on unquoted companies and emphasis on total return is highly complementary to Gresham House’s Baronsmead VCTs, which invest in unlisted and public companies to deliver consistent dividends.

As part of the acquisition, 16 full-time employees including two partners, and three consultants will transfer to Gresham House.

The partners, Trevor Hope and Clive Austin, will join Bevan Duncan and Ken Wotton to become the senior management team of Gresham House’s Strategic Equity division. Trevor and Clive will remain responsible for the investment, portfolio, and fund management of the Mobeus VCTs, alongside their investment and operations teams.

Gresham House’s Mobeus VCTs deal follows on from another strong period of success for Baronsmead, which completed a £65m fundraising earlier this year – the second largest across all VCTs in the 2020/21 tax year – taking its total AUM to more than £400m.

Tony Dalwood, Gresham House Chief Executive Officer, says:

“The combination of the Mobeus VCT business with Gresham House’s existing VCT business expands our scale and presence in the VCT segment. The high-quality and experienced Mobeus VCT team is culturally aligned with us at Gresham House, and the Mobeus VCTs’ strong brand and long-term performance also provide a close fit with Gresham House’s reputation for governance, fund performance and investment culture.

“As the VCT segment continues to consolidate, this deal enhances our combined reach amid what we believe is a period of  rising demand for early-stage growth capital. In addition, the role of VCTs in supporting emerging and disruptive businesses is closely aligned with Gresham House’s ESG-focused investment strategies.”

 

Trevor Hope adds:

“Gresham House and the Baronsmead VCTs are well known to and respected by the Mobeus VCT business. Gresham House has the capability to invest in, and grow, a major SME investment financing platform based on the integrated Mobeus VCT and Baronsmead teams and is the natural partner for us.”

About the VCT business of Mobeus Equity Partners LLP

Mobeus (www.mobeus.co.uk) is a UK based investment firm managing assets across two distinct client groups, one of which is the VCT business being acquired by Gresham House. Over the last 10 years, the Mobeus VCTs are ranked as four of the top five performing funds within the generalist VCT segment (on a NAV total return basis), with strong performance throughout.

The VCT business is made up of four VCTs,  being Mobeus Income & Growth VCT plc, Mobeus Income & Growth 2 VCT plc, Mobeus Income & Growth 4 VCT plc and The Income & Growth VCT plc, which have a combined AUM of £369 million (as at 31 March 2021).