Business
PE division fundraising of over £180 million
PE division fundraising of over £180 million.
About this update from Foresight Group Holdings Ltd.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n01 February 2024\n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \nPrivate Equity division fundraising of over £180 million\n \nForesight Group Holdings Limited (\"Foresight\", the \"Group\"), a leading infrastructure and private equity investment manager, today provides an update on year-to-date institutional private equity and retail venture capital trust (\"VCT\") fundraising.\n \nRegional Private Equity\n \nThe AIB Foresight SME Impact Fund (\"the Fund\") will receive further funding from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (\"ISIF\"). The Fund, which reached first close with a cornerstone commitment from Allied Irish Banks (\"AIB\") in 2022, supports small and medium sized companies (\"SMEs\") across Ireland to fund growth, to adopt sustainable best practices and advance Ireland's transition to a green economy. ISIF is providing a €25 million commitment as part of its €1 billion 5-year climate investment programme. This will see Foresight further expand its Dublin office and broader activity across Ireland.\n \nVCTs\n \nForesight has seen strong demand for the offers for subscription of Foresight VCT Plc and Foresight Enterprise VCT Plc, with both recently announced as oversubscribed1. While the £55 million2 total raised across both funds is comparable with the prior year, the funds have reached capacity far earlier this financial year. This reflects positively on the Group's specialist in-house retail sales team and the strong recent performance of both funds having delivered top three positions3 when compared with peers on a one year share price total return basis.\n \nThese developments strengthen Foresight's position as a leading UK and Ireland regional SME investor, taking the division's total fundraising to over £180 million in the financial year-to-date. Funds raised include the previously announced first closes for two new regional funds serving Wales (£50 million) and Northern Ireland (£10 million), over £50 million of top up investments into existing regional funds and close to £70 million into VCT and EIS funds.\n \n \nBernard Fairman, Executive Chairman of Foresight Group Holdings Limited, commented:\n \n\"Foresight continues to deliver consistent fundraising into higher margin vehicles, underpinned by strong fund performance and the strength of our in-...