IQ-EQ has supported Belfast-based Cordovan Capital Management with its first institutional fund.
Cordovan Capital Management is one of Northern Ireland’s most active private equity investors, having made nine portfolio investments since 2016. Focusing on Northern Ireland but investing selectively elsewhere in the UK and Ireland, Cordovan’s investment approach is to provide buyout and/or growth capital to profit-generating small businesses that are poised to scale.
As an emerging manager that has previously invested via a syndicate model, Cordovan has realised two distributions to its investors from its existing portfolio and anticipates further returns in 2021. It is now set to launch its maiden institutional fund with IQ-EQ serving as administrator and depositary for the group.
The new fund is aiming for its first close imminently and will be targeting a total AUM value of GBP50 million. The fund will be a private equity fund providing buyout and growth capital of GBP500,000–GBP4 million to ambitious UK and Irish SMEs.
Appointed earlier this year, IQ-EQ is providing a full fund services mandate including administration and depositary services as well as appointed representative and UK AIFM services through its subsidiary regulatory compliance business.
Leading IQ-EQ’s relationship with Cordovan is funds director Tom Miller. He says: “It is our absolute pleasure to be assisting Cordovan Capital Management with their first fund for institutional investors. We’ve been delighted to deliver a full suite of administration, depositary, regulatory hosting and compliance services – showcasing the strength and depth of our offering to alternative fund managers – and very much look forward to continuing to work closely with Mike Irvine, Daniel Anderson and the rest of the Cordovan team through a successful launch and beyond.”
Daniel Anderson, associate director of Cordovan, says: “Launching our first institutional-grade fund has been a steep learning curve for Cordovan, but as we near our first close, we can reflect on how supportive the IQ-EQ team has been to date. They have conscientiously assisted at every stage of our fund development and launch process and we very much look forward to our next phase of collaboration, which will see them form an intrinsic part of our fund’s operating model.”
