NorthEdge Capital, the private equity firm focused on investing in businesses in the North of England, has backed Ramsdens Financial, the UK’s largest independent pawnbroker.
Founded in 1987 in Stockton-on-Tees, Ramsdens has 450 employees and more than 120 branches across North East England, Yorkshire, Scotland and Wales.
The investment from NorthEdge will allow the business to further develop its store portfolio and expand and grow its core products.
Andy Ball, partner and chief investment officer at NorthEdge Capital, director James Hall and investment director Tom Rowley led the deal. Ball and Hall join the board as non-executive directors.
Non-executive director Andy Meehan also joins the board. Meehan has over 25 years’ experience in the retail and consumer product sectors. Since 2006, he has been chairman of a number of private equity-backed companies including GHD, American Golf and St Tropez, and was previously finance director at Selfridges & Co.
Peter Kenyon, chief executive of Ramsdens, says: “Andy and James of NorthEdge have been easy and straightforward to deal with from the outset. They both understand what Ramsdens is trying to achieve and how we meet the needs of our customers. We look forward to taking Ramsdens on to the next stage of its development as we see good growth potential in our target markets.”
Hall says: “Ramsdens has a strong position in a niche and exciting part of the financial services market. It has doubled its store portfolio over the last three years, which provides the business with a robust platform from which it will continue to grow through its focus on transparency and excellent reputation.”
The deal is the eighth transaction completed by NorthEdge Capital from its maiden fund, which closed at GBP225million in March 2013, and represents over GBP100million of investment into the Northern business community during the last 18 months.
Muckle LLP (Craig Swinhoe, Matthew Walsh and Amy Wanless) provided legal advice to NorthEdge Capital.
EY provided corporate finance advice to NorthEdge (Mark Clephan and Mark Day). KPMG advised on tax structuring (Steve Heath).
Grant Thornton completed financial due diligence (Will Oxley and Andrew Baldwin). OC&C completed commercial due diligence (David Hosein and Nigel Stirk).
