Growth Capital Partners V holds GBP 260m final close

Harriet Matthews
30 March 2022

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

London-headquartered Growth Capital Partners (GCP) has announced the final close of Growth Capital Partners Fund V (GCP V) on GBP 260m, surpassing its GBP 250m target.

The vehicle was registered in November 2020, according to Unquote Data, and held a first close in Q1 2021. GCP managing partner Garrett Curran told Unquote that the fund had reached 60% of its target by September 2021.

Quest Fund Placement acted as placement agent for the fundraise, while Macfarlanes provided legal advice.

The fund's predecessor, Growth Capital Partners Fund IV (GCP IV), held a final close in July 2017 on GBP 205m, exceeding its GBP 200m target.

GCP was formed by Bill Crossan in 1999 via a spin-out from Close Brothers, with managing partners Garrett Curran and James Blake. The firm aims to provide flexible capital for UK-based SMEs, partnering with their management teams to drive growth.

Investors
The fund's LP base comprises new and existing investors, including international institutional investors, GCP said in a statement. Asked about the composition of the LP base, Curran told Unquote: "We had excellent support from our existing investors with a re-up rate of 100% from eligible investors, along with several high quality new investors."

The fund's LP base includes pension funds, family offices and funds-of-funds, all of which are from the UK, Western Europe and the US, Curran added.

"More former portfolio executives have invested in the new fund alongside our traditional investors," Curran said. "This is a great way to maintain close links with talented leaders whose expertise is valuable in assessing potential investments and new markets."

According to Unquote Data, funds-of-funds including Access Capital Partners and Cornerstone Private Equity have backed GCP V. Further investors include various UK-based pension funds, as well as British Business Investments.

Investments
The fund will invest in growing companies in the technology, services and industrials sectors. It makes flexible capital investments in the form of debt and equity, focusing on buyout and expansion deals for UK-based SMEs. The fund's predecessor vehicle deployed equity tickets of GBP 5m - GBP 30m, while GCP V can deploy tickets of GBP 10m - GBP 40m, Curran told Unquote.

GCP V has made three investments to date: in March 2021, the vehicle acquired a minority stake in cybersecurity business Bridewell Consulting; GCP took a minority stake in digital transformation consultancy Hippo Digital in April 2021; and in December 2021, the fund acquired a minority stake in regulatory and competition advisory firm Flint Global.

The fund is expected to make 12 deals in total, Curran said, adding that the vehicle has a "very strong" pipeline with two further deals already in exclusivity.

People
Growth Capital Partners – Garrett Curran (managing partner).