UK government closes £75M fund for capital-starved SMEs

Funding opportunity

The UK government’s Capital for Enterprise Fund Managers have announced the final closing of the Capital for Enterprise Fund, a £75 million fund of funds. Investors in the fund are the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform along with the UK banks HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and The Royal Bank of Scotland.

The fund has committed £30 million each to Aberdeen Asset Managers Private Equity and Octopus Private Equity with which to make investments, the remaining £15 million is to be managed as a co-investment fund, available to invest alongside established fund managers into SMEs that fit the fund’s investment strategy. For co-investments the fund will provide up to 50 per cent of capital in funding rounds of between £200,000 and £2 million.

The Aberdeen and Octopus funds have been identifying and reviewing investments since mid-January and will be making new investments over the next 12 months. The focus is sound businesses with existing cash flows and growth potential, but which are currently unable to access the funding they need. The funds will offer equity or mezzanine investment aimed at releasing and sustaining growth and can invest between £200,000 and £2 million in businesses which meet the European Union’s definition of a small to medium-sized enterprise.  

UK companies seeking further information about their eligibility for CFE Fund investment can call the CFE Registration Helpline on +44 845 459 9780 or contact the managers directly: Aberdeen (www.aberdeen-asset.com/privateequity); Octopus (www.octopus.com).

Managers interested in the co-investment fund should contact Capital for Enterprise Fund Managers on +44 114 206 2131 or [email protected].