ECI Partners

ECI Partners is a private equity group which celebrated its 40th anniversary in June 2016[1] having been established by the Bank of England in 1976.[2] It invests in small to medium-sized companies headquartered in the UK.

It organised its first management buyout for Ansafone in 1980 and was a founder member of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. In the first decade of ECI's investment they were active across a range of investments including syndicated transactions; early investments included Williams Holdings - owner of Chubb and Kidd - founded by Sir Nigel Rudd and Brian McGowan, and Shanks & McEwan.

From the start of the 1990s (ECI 4) the exclusive focus became UK mid-market buyouts investing in the likes of National Express Group and Bloomsbury Publishing.

The turn of the millennium saw ECI raise ECI 7 with leading growth investments including Thinkmoney and LateRooms.

In September 2014 it collected £500m, the tenth and largest fund in its 38-year history.[3]

Fundraising began in early April 2014 with a target fund size of £400m and closed at the hard cap of £500m five months later, having been significantly oversubscribed. This made ECI the first private equity firm investing in UK-headquartered companies to raise a tenth buyout fund focused on the same strategy.

Recent investments include IT Lab (IT Managed Services),[4] Imagesound (a leading supplier of audio and screen media),[5] and MPM (premium natural pet food company natural).[6]

Other current investments include Tusker,[7] Evans Cycles,[8] Investis,[9] ATG,[10] Avantia, a leading online home insurance company that trades under the HomeProtect brand, and Great Rail Journeys.

Exits

The sale of Reed & Mackay [11] (premium corporate travel company) in August 2016 was ECI's 100th exit since 1990, and generated a multiple of 3.4x cost to investors.

In February 2016, ECI sold Citation, a provider of HR, employment law, and health & safety solutions to 16,000 SMEs, to HGCapital[12] for a reported £185m.[13]

In June 2015 it sold Fourth Hospitality, a restaurant management software firm to Insight Venture Partners.[14]

In February 2015 ECI sold Wireless Logic, an M2M managed service provider, to CVC Capital Partners.[15]

In October 2014 ECI sold XLN Telecom Ltd to the company's management and Blackstone’s credit business GSO Capital Partners generating a 3x return on its investment.[16]

In February 2014 ECI sold M2 Digital to The Rigby Group through its technology brand SCC (Specialist Computer Centres).[17]

ECI sold healthcare IT company Ascribe to AIM-listed clinical software supplier EMIS Health Group in September 2013 generating a 2.1x return.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "ECI celebrates 40th anniversary with two promotions". Real Deals.
  2. ↑ "Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin Volume 16 1976 page 301" (PDF). Bank of England.
  3. ↑ "ECI Partners notches up largest fund in its history". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "ECI snaps up stake in IT firm behind McLaren supercars". Telegraph. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "ECI tunes into in- store music group". Insider Media. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Private equity firm ECI gobbles up gastro pet food company MPM". Telegraph. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "ECI Partners invests in Tusker". Fleet News. 19 February 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "Sale of Evans Cycles to ECI Partners agreed". Cycling Weekly. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "ECI backs Investis to accelerate its growth strategy". UK Business Angels Association. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "ECI to buy antiques bible maker ATG.". The Telegraph. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "ECI and Livingbridge reap 3.4x on Reed & Mackay exit". Unquote. 4 August 2016.
  12. ↑ "ECI makes 5.4x on Citation sale to HgCapital". Real Deals. 15 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "Fast growing Citation is snapped up by Hg Capital for £185m". AlManchester Evening News. 15 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "RESTAURANT SOFTWARE PROVIDER BOUGHT BY US FIRM". Insider Media. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  15. ↑ "ECI scores 6.1x return through CVC's acquisition of Wireless Logic". AltAssets. 10 February 2015.
  16. ↑ "ECI reaps 3x on XLN exit". Unquote. 6 October 2014.
  17. ↑ "Print services firm M2 Digital bought by SCC". 18 February 2014.
  18. ↑ "ECI makes 2.1x on Ascribe exit". Unquote. 13 September 2013.

External links

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