Manchester, 15 March 2024 – Maven Capital Partners (“Maven”), a leading UK investor in high-growth businesses, has completed the sale of The 55 Group to LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group. The transaction follows the successful delivery of the value creation plan set out three years ago with the support of Maven’s Regional Management Buyout Fund, which made the original investment in April 2021. Additionally, Maven has reinvested a portion of the exit proceeds alongside LDC.

This sale represents the third successful exit for Maven’s Buyout Fund, following the exit from John McGavigan in 2022 and the recent sale of Titan Wealth to Parthenon Capital, both of which also achieved a money multiple return in excess of 3x.

The 55 Group comprises trading entities Pagabo, Sypro, and Loop and was created following Maven’s investment in 2021. This strategic consolidation has positioned The 55 Group as a leading provider of services and software for procuring and managing complex construction projects, particularly for public sector and large enterprise clients. Since Maven’s investment, The 55 Group has more than doubled in size, with a current workforce of around 100 employees. The Group also moved into new purpose built headquarters in the centre of Hull.

Ryan Bevington, Partner at Maven, commented on the exit:

“The successful sale of The 55 Group underscores the value of our investment strategy which is focused on backing exceptional management teams running high growth businesses, which often require investment or additional expertise to unlock their potential. In less than three years, we’ve seen the successful integration of three complementary businesses and the creation of an ESG focused digital platform which supports many of the UK’s leading public and private sector organisations in the delivery of their infrastructure plans.”

Simon Toplass, CEO of The 55 Group, reflected on the journey:

“Our partnership with Maven has been instrumental in realising our vision of creating a business that supports the evaluation of social value, ethical procurement, and sustainable contract and risk management across the built environment. Their funding, support, and shared vision have been pivotal in our rapid growth and the successful development of The 55 Group. There are exciting opportunities ahead and we look forward to continuing on this growth journey with our new investment partners.”

This transaction marks another milestone in Maven’s track record of identifying and nurturing high-potential businesses, demonstrating the strength of its investment approach and the potential of the UK’s private equity sector to drive innovation and growth.

Ryan Bevington and Jeremy Thompson, both partners in Maven’s Manchester office, led the original investment through to exit for Maven.

The 55 Group shareholders were advised by Rothschild (Stephen Griffiths and Josh Harvey), Addleshaw Goddard (Richard Hunt, Peter Wood, Tom Hopwood, Caera Loughran), Gateley (Paul Jefferson), Graph Strategy (James Tetherton) and KPMG (Chris Stott). Management were advised by Park Place (Richard Firth).