Beringea divests Espresso Group

Espresso Group is the parent company of Espresso Education. The company is to become part of Discovery's education division, which will oversee the business. The acquisition by Discovery marks its first in the international education space.

Beringea invested in Espresso in September 2001, taking part in a £2.65m funding round for the company and gaining a 20% stake. Beringea provided £1.55m of the total via its ProVen VCTs, specifically ProVen Media VCT, ProVen VCT and Guiness Flight VCT, according to unquote" data.

The GP then supplied a further £950,000 in February 2006 to part-finance Espresso's acquisition of Netmedia Education.

Company
Founded in 1997 and headquartered in London, Espresso provides digital curriculum content for schools. The company claims to supply its services to 11,500 schools and 50% of primary schools in the UK.

The company recorded turnover of £13.4m in 2011, as well as an operating loss of £550,700. Espresso employs around 125 staff.

People
Lewis Bronze is the CEO and founder of Espresso. Stuart Veale is a managing partner at Beringea and sat on Espresso's board as a non-executive director prior to the divestment.

Advisers
Vendor – Keystone Law, Dee Sian (Legal).
Company – Quayle Munro (Corporate finance); Bird & Bird (Legal).
Acquirer – HRO Grant Dawe (Legal).

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• Topics
• Exits
• UK / Ireland
• Support services
• United Kingdom
• Trade sale
• Beringea Limited