TMT

With all our investments impacted by an ever-changing technology landscape, we have developed a strong understanding of the opportunities and challenges this creates for TMT and tech-enabled companies. Within our portfolio, we have significant experience of investing in proprietary software and data products and are well qualified both to assess product and service providers and to advise on the development of IT and digital strategies. Technology has played a significant role in the development of our recent investments, underpinning their delivery of high-quality services to blue-chip clients and consumers, both in the UK and internationally. Our track record of investing in TMT and technology-led businesses includes Computacenter which developed into one of the UK’s leading IT service providers, generating a return of 13.0x cost; Alexander Mann Solutions, a technology-led, global leader in recruitment process outsourcing (3.6x cost); Random42, a global leader in the provision of digital animation services to the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies (3.1x) and Kurt Geiger, a leading retailer and distributor of design-led footwear (2.6x cost), where online revenues increased 11-fold during the period of our investment.

We are currently working with nGAGE, a diversified international recruitment business, in the roll-out of its proprietary software platform, VMS365, that underpins over £170 million of client spend, as well as a suite of candidate and client-facing mobile applications. We are also supporting Explore Learning, a leading provider of after-school tuition services, with significant investment in its content distribution platform. In our current fund, we are supporting Hanson Wade, a leading information services provider to the life sciences industry, in developing an online event product as part of its digital strategy and in accelerating the growth of its proprietary data product, Beacon. More recently, we invested in Babble, a unified communications provider, which is growing rapidly, both organically and by consolidating its sector; HEI, a global, distance-learning programme manager for universities and other higher education institutions; Ten10, a software quality engineering and automation consultancy, which also operates its own academy model; and Digital Space, a highly differentiated provider of secure, connected, cloud IT managed services.