Livingbridge injects £8m into The Up Group

Greg Gille
26 April 2016

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

UK investor Livingbridge has invested ТЃ8m in The Up Group, a digital executive search and networking platform.

Livingbridge has previous experience of investing in recruitment businesses, with past investments including Nigel Frank International, Armstrong Craven and Staffline.

The Up Group will use the fresh funding to bolster its delivery capacity. It will also aim to expand internationally and accelerate the growth of its Digital Masters networking programme.

It remains unclear whether Livingbridge deployed capital via its Enterprise 2 institutional fund or its range of VCT vehicles, although the size of the investment would suggest the former. The firm held a first and final close for its Livingbridge Enterprise 2 LP vehicle on the fund's hard-cap of £220m in September last year. It went on to christen the fund by deploying £9.8m of equity into UK-based restaurant group Le Bistrot Pierre in December.

Prior to the Up Group transaction, Livingbridge backed the management buyout of Thomas J Fudge's, a British producer of biscuits and crackers, from its family owners.

Company
Established in 2007, The Up Group is a digital platform offering senior executive search and networking services. Its clients list includes PE- and VC-backed businesses such as Skyscanner, Airbnb, Just Eat, Graze and Trainline, as well as Google Deepmind, TripAdvisor, Aviva and Guardian Media Group.

The Up Group is understood to have generated £6m in fee income in 2015.

People
Livingbridge – Nick Holder (investment director).
The Up Group – Clare Johnston, Robert Swerling (co-CEOs).

Advisers
Equity – Olswang, Stephen Rosen, Jennifer Ireland (legal);
Fairgrove, Paddy Woods Ballard, Patrick Woodrow (commercial due diligence); BDO, Chris Heatlie, Sarah Cumming (financial due diligence); PwC, Simon Viner, Usman Choudhary (tax); Avendris, Mike Robb (IT due diligence); Marsh, Paul Stevens (insurance due diligence).
Vendor – Livingstone, Jeremy Furniss, Karen Dawaf (corporate finance); SMAB, Peter Weiss, Neal Hodges (legal); Saffery Champness, Robert Langston, Robert Mace, Nick Dugdale (tax).