Palatine backs Anthesis

The deal valued Anthesis at close to £50m, a source close to the situation told Unquote.

Following the deal, Anthesis will remain majority-owned by its team. Palatine partners Beth Houghton and Tristan Craddock will join the board as non-executive directors.

With the fresh capital and Palatine's support, Anthesis intends to further scale up and boost its growth both organically and via strategic acquisitions in new geographies and sectors, while accelerating its impact through digitalisation.

Palatine invested in Anthesis via both its buyout fund Palatine Private Equity IV, and its debut impact fund, which closed on £100m in September 2017. The fund deploys equity tickets of less than £10m and targets mid-market, profitable companies with a focus on delivering positive social impact. It invests across themes including integrated health, ethical consumerism, lifestyle and wellbeing, and the circular economy.

A source close to the situation told Unquote that the fund has completed eight deals so far and a new impact vehicle with the same strategy will be launched soon.

In addition to the equity drawn from the funds, Investec provided debt finance to support the transaction.

Company
Established in 2013 and headquartered in London, Anthesis is a consultancy specialised in helping companies develop sustainability strategies that drive performance and build resilience.

Employing 600 staff across 17 countries, the company serves a customer base composed of cities and regions, organisations and companies operating across the financial services, agri-food, consumer, utilities, technology and digital sectors.

Its clients include international corporations and brands such as Amazon, Target, Kimberley-Clark and Nestlé.

Anthesis generated turnover of £40m in 2019.

People
Palatine Private Equity – Beth Houghton (partner and head of the Impact Fund); Gary Tipper (managing partner).
Anthesis – Stuart McLachlan (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Gateley (legal); Clearwater International (corporate finance); RSM (tax); Armstrong (commercial due diligence); Grant Thornton (financial due diligence); Berkeley (operational due diligence).
Company – Jamieson (corporate finance); Blake Morgan (legal).

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• Topics
• UK / Ireland
• Buyouts
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• Palatine Private Equity
• Investec
• Clearwater
• Grant Thornton
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