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RUIG The Scottish Loan Fund Newsletter
Oil and gas service specialists set to grow with ÂŁ3.5 million of funding
Investment news SLF Portfolio Dinner 2014
INVESTMENT NEWS
CHILD’S PLAY Scottish Loan Fund investment aids the expansion of Spaceright through the acquisition of a complementary business
The Scottish Loan Fund has invested £1.3 million in Spaceright Europe Limited (Spaceright), a trusted name in the education supplies market. The SLF funding package has enabled Spaceright to acquire complementary business, Educational Technology Limited (Edtech). The deal represents the Fund’s 17th investment. Cumbernauld-based Spaceright is a long established supplier to the education sector. The company designs, manufactures and sources a range of established and respected brands for daily use in schools (nursery, primary and secondary), colleges and universities throughout the UK. Sales predominantly consist of educational display and presentation products in addition to mobile folding furniture for school dining. Spaceright’s continued product innovation has seen the business recently launch ‘Inspirational Playgrounds’, a range of products aimed at creating stimulating and educational outdoor learning environments. Outdoor learning is viewed as an increasingly important part of a child’s development and there is growing demand for high-quality and durable playground solutions. This range caters for all primary school ages including teaching of numeracy and literacy in earlyyears and the acquisition of Edtech will further strengthen Spaceright’s early-years offering enabling it to provide schools with high quality, low cost screen printed plastic resources, specifically designed to aid the teaching of core curriculum subjects.
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Scottish Loan Fund
Date: May 2014 Deal Type: Acquisition Finance Sector: Education Transaction Size: £1.3m No. of employees: 57 Location: Cumbernauld
Management have ambitious plans for Spaceright and the acquisition of Edtech will help the business build on the strong revenue growth seen in recent years. SLF is ideally placed to support the working capital requirements of the enlarged business and to help fund sales and marketing initiatives designed to raise the profile of the Inspirational Playgrounds range and the Edtech offering. Commenting on the transaction, Steve Ashton, Managing Director at Spaceright, said: “We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of Edtech which complements and broadens our existing core product range, establishing the Spaceright proposition as the most comprehensive in the sector. This is an important part of our targeted growth strategy which would not have been possible without the support of Maven and the Scottish Loan Fund whose commercial approach and assistance throughout the transaction was greatly appreciated.” Kerry Sharp, Head of the Scottish Investment Bank, said: “The Scottish Loan Fund has, and continues to be, a valuable source of finance for established, growth-oriented SMEs, many of whom are significant employers in their areas. Spaceright’s expansion through this acquisition is exactly the type of ambitious growth plan that the fund was set up to support.”
INVESTMENT NEWS
On the right track The Scottish Loan Fund invests £3.5m in oil & gas service specialist Coretrax Technology to help it expand its existing Middle East operation
Date: December 2013 Deal Type: Development Capital Sector: Energy Services Transaction Size: £3.5m No. of employees: 15 Location: Aberdeen
In December the Scottish Loan Fund invested £3.5 million in energy services business Coretrax Technology Limited (Coretrax). Coretrax was established in 2008 and offers a wide range of downhole tools and services with applications across the well life cycle, including well bore clean-up, completion and abandonment, to the global oil & gas industry. The Coretrax suite of tools has been extremely well received by the market resulting in the business developing a good spread of blue-chip international customers as well as many of the leading North Sea operators. The global oil & gas industry is in the midst of a period of significant investment and with the world’s resources of “easy” oil depleting, the business is benefitting from operating in a subsector which is driven by the need to extend the useful operating life of a producing oil well. Aberdeen-based Coretrax has carved a niche in the market by being able to provide a bespoke customer solution quickly and efficiently. The flexibility of this service offering and the technical expertise held within the business has helped forge strong customer relationships. The business has achieved year-on-year growth and has established an excellent reputation in the market for innovative technological solutions and impeccable customer service. Led by an experienced senior management team the business is focussed on driving further growth over the next three years. The flexible funding package from the SLF will also allow Coretrax to expand its existing Middle East operation, having already won significant contracts in Saudi Arabia. Kenny Murray, Managing Director at Coretrax, said: “As a team we felt Maven had a real understanding of our business and recognised our aspirations for future growth. We are delighted that Maven and the SLF have committed to support Coretrax. 2013 was an immensely successful year for the company and, thanks to this investment, we look to meet and surpass targets in the coming months.” Kerry Sharp, Head of the Scottish Investment Bank, said: “Coretrax has been working intensively with a number of areas of Scottish Enterprise to realise its ambitious growth plans, including commitment to innovation and new product development in the oil and gas sector. We are pleased to see them extending their international reach, and to have been able to support this through the Scottish Loan Fund. We look forward to what the future brings for Coretrax.”
Scottish Loan Fund
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PORTFOLIO UPDATE Guests from across the Scottish business community networking during the dinner at the Caledonian Hotel.
Portfolio Dinner 2014 In June the Scottish Loan Fund hosted its inaugural Portfolio Dinner at the Caledonian Waldorf Astoria in Edinburgh. Over 50 people attended the event from across the Scottish business community with the senior management from a number of existing SLF portfolio companies also in attendance. We were fortunate to also be joined by two notable guests on the night, Shane Corstorphine, CFO of Skyscanner and Hugh Little, Head of Acquisitions for Aberdeen Asset Management PLC. Both gave a revealing insight into their experience of being part of the senior management team of two of Scotland’s most successful businesses.
Q&A session which included Hugh Little of Aberdeen Asset Management and Shane Corstorphine of Skyscanner.
Following dinner and the talks from Hugh and Shane, guests had the opportunity to ask questions to the panel on a wide range of business topics including access to finance, acquisitions and internationalisation, which helped to stimulate further debate that continued into the bar afterwards. The Scottish Loan Fund team would like to extend its gratitude to all those who attended the dinner and helped to make it such a great evening. It is safe to say that next year’s dinner has a lot to live up to!
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The Scottish Loan Fund (SLF) provides loans from £250,000 to £5 million to businesses across Scotland who are looking for capital to help drive their growth aspirations. Glasgow
0141 306 7400
Edinburgh 0131 306 2201 Aberdeen 01224 517 120 slfenquiries@mavencp.com www.mavencp.com
Whether it be a viable alternative to bank funding or additional finance which is complementary to senior debt, companies from a variety of sectors right across Scotland have been benefitting from the Fund’s flexible funding packages since it was established in 2011. Loans can be repaid over a flexible term of 3-7 years with capital repayment holidays available. The SLF, which is managed by Maven Capital Partners, actively looks to unlock the potential of Scottish small and medium sized businesses by providing tailored funding solutions specifically aimed at supporting growth. If you want to find out more about how the SLF could assist you or your client then please get in touch with one our investment executives.