Private Equity
4 minutes
20/01/2021
Charles O’Riordan joins Foresight to support the £100 million Foresight East of England Fund
Click here to access the announcement as a PDF
Cambridge, 20 January 2021: Foresight Group (“Foresight”), a leading independent private equity and infrastructure investment manager, is pleased to announce that Charles O’Riordan has joined the private equity team. Based in Cambridge, Charles will support the deployment of the £100 million Foresight East of England Fund.
Charles joins Matt McLoughlin and Bill Yost in Foresight’s Cambridge office, strengthening Foresight’s commitment to the East of England. His focus will be on building relationships and identifying investment opportunities in the region. Charles has worked with UK small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) for his whole career, having originally trained as a chartered accountant at PwC. Most recently Charles was at KPMG in Cambridge, advising business owners throughout the East of England on a range of transactions.
The Foresight East of England Fund is Foresight’s fifth regional private equity fund and invests in SMEs in the East of England. Cornerstoned by the Cambridgeshire Pension Fund, the £100 million Fund targets long term value growth and provides a permanent pool of capital to fund businesses in the region and beyond. Foresight has opened an office in Cambridge and made a number of local hires to ensure it works closely with the region and its businesses.
The Fund typically invests up to £5 million into established companies with a view to assisting management with their growth ambitions. It invests across a broad range of sectors, across the full range of transaction types including buy-outs and equity release.
Foresight looks to build returns for investors and management teams by supporting companies with their growth plans, providing both capital and expertise. Last year Foresight completed 20 new investments alongside 24 follow-on investments, deploying £100m into its growing portfolio of over 100 UK SMEs.
Commenting on Charles’ appointment, Matt Smith, Partner at Foresight, said: “We are delighted to have Charles on board. His extensive knowledge and contacts in the region’s business community will be a valuable asset as we continue to work with more companies and advisers in the region. We look forward to adding to the team over time.”
Charles O’Riordan added: “I am pleased to be joining Foresight, adding to their presence in the East of England. The region has a rich and diverse population of ambitious and successful businesses and I look forward to working with these companies to help them achieve their growth ambitions.”
ENDS
For more information contact:
Lucy Sherwood: lsherwood@foresightgroup.eu / +44 (0)20 3763 6977
Notes to Editors
About Foresight Group LLP (“Foresight”):
Foresight is a leading independent infrastructure and private equity investment manager which has been managing investment funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients for more than 35 years.
Foresight has over £6.8 billion of Assets Under Management across a number of funds, including Listed Vehicles, Limited Partnerships, Enterprise Investment Schemes (EISs), Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs), Inheritance Tax Solutions using Business Relief (BR) and Open-Ended Investment Companies (OEICs).
Foresight’s Private Equity team, comprising over 30 investment professionals, manages c.£700 million in a portfolio of more than 100 companies and pursues four discrete but complementary investment styles: Venture, Impact, Growth and Replacement Capital through its growing regional office network.
Foresight was a commended finalist in the Best Venture Capital Trust Provider category at the 2020 Investment Life & Pensions Moneyfacts Awards. Foresight was named ‘Fund Manager of the Year’ at the PLC Awards last year, ‘Generalist VCT of the Year’ at the Investment Week Tax Efficiency Awards 2018/19 and was a finalist in the 2018 Unquote British Private Equity Awards as Venture and Growth Capital House of the Year.
Foresight’s largest office is in London with regional UK offices in Cambridge, Manchester, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Leicester, Edinburgh and Guernsey and international offices in Sydney, Rome, Madrid and Luxembourg.
About the Foresight East of England Fund:
The £100 million Foresight East of England Fund targets equity investments of between £1 million and £5 million in small and medium-sized business (SMEs) in the East of England and beyond.
The Fund was cornerstoned by Cambridgeshire Pension Fund, with the objective of providing long term value growth for investors. It will provide a permanent pool of patient capital.
The Fund was created to invest in established companies with a view to assisting management teams with their growth ambitions. It will invest across a broad range of sectors in companies with a sustainable competitive advantage and defensible margins.
