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BGF welcomes establishment of the Australian Business Growth Fund

BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active investor in growing businesses, has welcomed the Australian Government’s announcement to establish an Australian Business Growth Fund that will help boost the growth of small and medium businesses.

This is as a result of an in-principle agreement between the Government and leading banks; NAB, CBA, Westpac and ANZ, together with HSBC Australia, NAB said it was pleased to support a new way for Australian small and medium businesses to access long-term equity capital.

Welcoming the news, Stephen Welton, CEO of the UK BGF, says: “This is a huge milestone in the international expansion of the BGF model following our own expansion into Ireland and the launch of Canadian BGF. Like the UK, Ireland and Canada, Australia relies heavily on the growth of its SMEs for job and wealth creation and the Australian BGF will significantly improve these companies’ access to capital.
 
“We’ve been actively promoting the adoption of the BGF model overseas in the hope that other countries can realise the opportunities to disrupt the traditional model of investing into SMEs.
 
“Having international variations of our model is a powerful endorsement of the BGF way. There is now a growing, unrivalled opportunity to build a practical network, connecting the BGF models that exists internationally and providing international gateways for the businesses back by BGF’s around the world.”

BGF was set up in 2011 and has since invested more than GBP2 billionn in over 300 companies, making it the most active investor in the UK and Ireland. As a minority, non-controlling equity partner with a patient outlook, it invests based on shared long-term goals with the management teams it backs. BGF invests across every sector and every region through its network of 14 offices.

In 2017, after bringing on board a new group of shareholders, BGF launched in the Republic of Ireland. A year later, BGF supported Canada in the launch of its equivalent – the Canadian Business Growth Fund – also based on BGF’s funding model. The CBGF has since invested in eight high-growth businesses, including a recent co-investment with the UK, backing an international Canadian/UK company, Appnovation.

Welton says: “The UK’s BGF has proved that patient capital works and is key to unlocking long-term sustainable growth across the economy. We are thrilled with today’s news and look forward to supporting the Australian BGF through its inception, as well as further building the BGF network across the world.”

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