Imbiba holds final close on £50m hard-cap

The vehicle will target investments in UK-based leisure and hospitality businesses.

The fundraising process lasted for slightly more than two years, after launching in December 2015. Imbiba is said to have resisted LP pressure to expand the fund size, preferring to stick to its area of strength.

Edinburgh-based MBM Commercial provided legal advice to the fund.

Imbiba said it has traded through different stages of the economic cycles over the last 20 years and believes there are currently "fantastic" opportunities in the sector. The firm notably made a 5.7x return on its sale of restaurant operator Drake & Morgan to Bowmark Capital in April 2013. It also sold bar chain Lewis & Clark to trade buyer Balls Brothers for a 3.7x return and 41% IRR in 2006.

Investors
The British Business Bank is the largest LP in the fund with a £30m commitment. The bank's contribution comes from its Enterprise Capital Fund scheme, which has committed £1.14bn since inception over 27 funds and 421 financings.

Investments
The fund will make equity investments of between £1-5m in UK businesses in the leisure and hospitality sectors. One previous Imbiba investment will be transferred into the fund, the details of which will be announced shortly.

People
Imbiba – John Connell (chair); Simon Wheeler, Brian Phillips, Fraser Bradshaw, Darrel Connell (partners).

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• Topics
• Funds
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• United Kingdom