Mercia celebrates year of achievement following EV acquisition
As it marks the first anniversary of its acquisition of Enterprise Ventures, Mercia Technologies PLC is looking forward to further growth across the regions with the enlarged group.
The acquisition – and its achievements in the 12 months since – have further strengthened Mercia’s footprint across the North of England in particular, and its position as a leading investor in innovative technology companies. In the past year the Group has:
Raised £40.0million for its balance sheet through a recent share placement.
Increased staff numbers from 24 before the acquisition, to over 60.
Completed the integration of the investment and administration teams
Achieved a successful IPO for Concepta (which originated from EV’s managed funds before taking capital form Mercia’s balance sheet)
On the back of EV’s excellent track record in the management of regional funds and picking and scaling impressive Northern businesses such as Blue Prism plc, the group increased its third party funds under management by nearly 50% to over £330m, with the recent Northern Powerhouse Investment Funds wins.
Completed the sale of software tool provider Allinea, a University of Warwick spinout, to the world’s leading semiconductor IP company, ARM.
Dr Mark Payton, CEO of Mercia Technologies, said: “The acquisition of Enterprise Ventures, with its portfolio of growing companies, has materially increased the pipeline of future investment prospects and Mercia’s footprint across the North of England. This, and the Group’s achievements in the year to date, have helped to firmly establish Mercia as a leading investor in innovative companies across the UK’s capital-underserved regions. With the new managed funds we are confident we will continue to unearth exceptional businesses providing near to medium opportunities to provide scale up capital from our balance sheet. The acquisition and synergistic fit between the two organisations is already bearing fruit”.
Jonathan Diggines, former CEO of Enterprise Ventures and now Executive Director of Mercia Technologies PLC added – “The Enterprise Ventures’ teams are looking for exactly the same sorts of deals which they have always been associated with using Mercia’s ‘Complete Capital’ solution; whether that is venture, development or loan capital from our managed funds, or investment to rapidly scale using Mercia’s balance sheet. We anticipate that the Enterprise Ventures’ brand will be fully integrated in the medium-term as we continue to grow Mercia into a national investment business, with a strong regional presence. We now expect transaction volumes to increase materially with the new regional fund mandates and look forward to an extremely productive year ahead as part of an enlarged Group.