Clearwater International launches new division to boost entrepreneur funding
Clearwater Growth will provide a range of transaction services tailored to the needs of entrepreneurs and owner managers of businesses with turnovers up to £40m and equity cheques up to £15m, the firm said in a statement.
Clearwater said the new venture could unlock £250m of new domestic and international investment for high-growth businesses over the next three years. The new division is aiming to support around £600m of deals over the next three years and take an increasing share of the SME transaction market, as well as supporting growth strategies through Clearwater International’s expertise.
“We are making an investment of more than £3m in Clearwater Growth over the next three years to help high-growth businesses unlock that funding,” Michael Reeves, managing partner at Clearwater International, said in a statement. “The team will provide corporate finance services equivalent in quality to Clearwater International, but geared toward the specific requirements of smaller businesses.”
The range of services offered will include raising investment, selling a business and strategic business planning. The team will offer full project management of a transaction – from the initial preparation phase through to key negotiations and completion - according to Clearwater.
The Clearwater Growth team will be based out of the UK’s key regional centres of Birmingham, Leeds, London, and Manchester but will leverage the firm’s international network of more than 300 professionals, based in 17 offices.
The team is being headed up by Sam Miller, who joins as partner. Miller has sat on several boards of entrepreneurial businesses as a non-executive director, and raised and managed investment funds.
Clearwater International completed 221 deals in the last financial year, representing a 60% increase in deal volume compared to the previous year, it said in a statement. This was accompanied by an overall increase in revenue of 111% from 2020/2021 to 2021/2022. Recent deals involving growth businesses it has advised on include Triangle Fire Systems on its minority investment from BGF, Nemesis Now on its investment from Alcuin Capital Partners and Town & Country Petfoods on its sale to Assisi Pet Care.