15th May 2008
CAT.126
CATAPULT ACHIEVE RECORD BREAKING NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS
Catapult Venture Managers is celebrating completing a record six transactions in one month.
During April – within the East Midlands - they completed new deals into Nottingham-based BWB Consulting, CellAura Technologies and Promethean Particles, whilst in the West Midlands they completed an investment into Silver Lining Solutions.
Catapult also completed further investments into existing portfolio companies Haemostatix and Sigmala.
Catapult Venture Managers Limited has backed the management team on the multi-million pound buyout of BWB Consulting Limited with additional funding being provided by Yorkshire Bank. Tenon Corporate Finance advised the management team.
The deal provided an exit for founder and majority shareholder Malcolm Wright and gives control of the business to a four-strong senior management team comprising Steve Wooler (who takes over as managing director), Colin Langford, Tim Loveridge and Greg Nicholson.
The opportunity to become owners of the business was extended to a further eight members of the operational team who invested for a significant minority interest. Yorkshire Bank provided bespoke senior debt and working capital funding alongside Catapult’s equity investment.
BWB, which is based in Nottingham and has offices in Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, Leicester and Manchester, employs around 250 people and provides multi-disciplinary engineering solutions to the property, development and construction industry.
CellAura Technologies Ltd – a spin out from the University of Nottingham and located in BioCity in Nottingham – is a provider of innovative screening products for the drug discovery industry.
Catapult has invested up to £550,000 into the company and introduced David George to the business, who has joined the board as an independent Non Executive Director.
The company’s unique technology allows increased speed, reduced cost, greater accuracy and a superior safety profile relative to the existing technology in the field.
Promethean Particles is a spin-out company from the University of Nottingham that has developed a unique method of developing bespoke nano particles. The company’s SWiNG reactor technology allows unprecedented flexibility and product control in inorganic nanoparticle manufacture. Nano particles are used in a wide range of applications including: coatings, sun creams, cosmetics and electronic circuitry.
Silver Lining Solutions is a Rugby-based company that has developed a software programme which could potentially save the call centre industry millions of pounds annually.
The Birmingham office of Catapult Venture Managers has injected half of a £500k investment into Silver Lining Solutions via the AEIF Fund which it manages. Midven has funded the remainder of the package alongside capital injections from Angels and management.
Silver Lining Solutions has developed ‘Skills Manager’ in conjunction with two of the UK’s largest call centres – O2 and Orange - to cut-back on the industry’s collective staff churn of 32% annually. The resulting software package assesses, analyses and improves the skills of staff working in call centres and offices.
Repeated loss of staff is estimated to cost the sector an estimated £2.3 billion in training and recruitment costs, not to mention the resulting negative impact on efficiency.
Catapult has completed an investment into drug development company Haemostatix Limited as part of a £1.2m funding package provided with existing investors Spark Ventures and NESTA.
The investment will enable Haemastatix to progress development of HaemoPlax™, a synthetic platelet substitute designed to replace platelets currently obtained from
blood donation. Donor platelets, given by transfusion, assist in blood clotting and are currently used to treat cancer and surgical patients at risk from severe bleeding.
Haemostatix also announced the appointment of a new chief executive, Dr. Ben Nichols and a new independent non-executive director, Dr. Grahaem Brown.
Lincolnshire-based Sigmala Ltd has received additional funding of £92,300 from a possible £130k from Catapult Venture Managers for product development. This brings Catapult’s investment to date into the company to £342,300. Additional funding in this round also includes £70k by E-Synergy.
Sigmala manufactures equipment used to improve the speed and efficiency of converting machinery. These machines convert wide rolls of film, paper and other sheet products into narrower rolls and are widely used in the packaging industry - although domestic products like cling film and kitchen towels are also processed in this way.
The product range developed by Sigmala includes Roll Drive Arms (RDA), Powered Unwind / Rewind Roll Stands (PURRS) and Knifeholders. The excitement about the Knifeholder product is that it is a consumable product rather than the more capital nature of the others.
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For further information please contact Pete Le Noury at Catapult Venture Managers on either: 0116 238 8200 or 07711 788975; or Paul Shrimpton at PSPR Ltd on 0121 354 7311 or 07979 505322.
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