Promethean holds £19m first close

The vehicle is being raised with the help of US placement agent Stonington Capital. The fund is targeting £150m.

Promethean's first vehicle was raised in 2005 and totalled £50m.

Investors
Commitments came from Middle Eastern and US investors.

Investments
The vehicle will target distressed opportunities in the UK lower mid-market, investing between £10-20m per deal.

According to Promethean's head, Sir Peter Burt, the UK economy is ripe for this investment strategy: "The UK economy is growing, which wasn't the case six or nine months ago, and there are companies that want to take advantage of this growth."

Burt believes there is a lack of funding available in this market segment for companies in need of refinancing or development capital. According to Burt, this lack of liquidity stems from increasing regulatory pressure for banks to hold onto more capital, and traditional lender's increased adversity to risk, meaning they typically back larger deals.

The former ITV chairman also believes there are relatively fewer players competing for special situation deals in the lower mid-market.

Although the new vehicle will be sector-agnostic, Burt explained he is less enthusiastic about pharmaceutical and high-tech companies.

People
Burt is the leading partner of Promethean.

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