Mobeus sells VCT business to Gresham House

The deal comprises four VCT contracts: Mobeus Income & Growth VCT, Mobeus Income & Growth 2 VCT, Mobeus Income & Growth 4 VCT and The Income & Growth VCT. The VCT business has GBP 396m in assets under management (AUM) and will bring Gresham House's VCT AUM to GBP 850m.

The deal will see 16 of Mobeus's employees and three consultants join Gresham House, including partners Trevor Hope and Clive Austin, who will become part of Gresham House's Strategic Equity division.

Mobeus's VCT business will retain its independent brand, but will operate alongside Gresham House's Baronsmead VCT, according to a statement. In November 2018, the firm bought Livingbridge's VCT business, as reported, which included the Baronsmead VCTs. The deal also saw Gresham House acquire two open-ended vehicles: LF Livingbridge UK Micro Cap Fund and LF Livingbridge UK Multi Cap Income Fund.

Mobeus was founded as GLE Development Capital in 1998, changing its name to Matrix Private Equity in 2004 and to Mobeus in 2012.

The sale of the firm's VCTs sees the retirement of founding partners Mike Walker, Bob Henry and Eric Tung as part of Mobeus's succession plan. The firm will now be fully owned by its four partners: Ashley Broomberg, Richard Babington, Justin Maltz and Chris Price. Its team now comprises these four partners and nine further staff.

The GP launched its buyout business in 2015 and is currently investing via Mobeus Fund IV, which held a final close in August 2017 on GBP 166m, surpassing its GBP 150m target. The vehicle deploys GBP 5m-15m in small-cap UK MBOs.

Mobeus now intends to focus on fundraising for its next fund, as well as the deployment of Mobeus Fund IV, the GP said in a statement.

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• Topics
• GPs
• UK / Ireland
• Venture
• Buyout
• Mobeus Equity Partners
• Venture
• Gresham Private Equity
• United Kingdom