Business
Investee Company Raises GBP6m
Investee Company Raises GBP6m.
About this update from B.p. Marsh & Partners Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n B.P. Marsh & Partners PLC\n27 March 2006\n\n\nDate: 27th March 2006 \nOn behalf of: B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc\n For immediate release\n\n\n\nB.P. Marsh & Partners Plc\nInvestee Company Raises £6m\n\nB.P. Marsh & Partners Plc, a venture capital provider to early stage financial\nservices businesses (AIM: BPM), today announces that one of its investee\ncompanies, Besso Holdings Limited ('Besso'), a Lloyd's insurance broking group,\nhas successfully raised £6m through the issuance of preference shares.\n\nThe new money will principally be employed to repay debt and to provide\nexpansion capital.\n\nCurrent directors and employees, and other existing shareholders, have agreed to\nsubscribe for approx £1m of the said £6m of preference shares. BP Marsh and a\nsubsidiary of Wachovia Corporation, a significant existing investor in Besso,\nhave agreed to subscribe for the difference on a 40/60 basis reflecting the\nrelative sizes of their existing shareholdings. BP Marsh maintains a 24.7%\nshareholding in Besso.\n\nBesso was established in February 1995, with the assistance of BP Marsh, by a\nspecialist team departing from Jardine Lloyd Thompson. The company originally\nspecialised in insurance broking for the North American P & C wholesale market\nbut, through acquisitions of businesses and teams, is now a multi-niche Lloyd's\nBroker with an anticipated turnover this year of more than £30m.\n\nCommenting on the investment, Brian Marsh OBE, Chairman of BP Marsh, said:\n\n'We are delighted to participate in this fundraising package which we believe\nwill enable Besso to achieve its medium to long term ambitions and which, at the\nsame time, will provide share incentives to attract and retain the stars that\nwill be key to achieving those ambitions.'\n\nColin Bird, Chief Executive Officer of Besso, added:\n\n'It is clear that our shareholders have considerable faith in our ability to\ngrow our business during the coming years and that this faith has been reflected\nby the amount of new money that we have raised, particularly from the existing\nteam. We now feel able to take full advantage of the exciting opportunities that\nwe see before us in our rapidly changing marketplace.'\n\nThe investment is the second made by BP Marsh since its flotation on AIM in\nFebruary 2006.\n\n\n- ends -\n\n\nFor further informatio...