Silver Cloud Investments has been launched by a former managing partner at the UK sell-side M&A house Cavendish Corporate Finance, Joe Stelzer.
Silver Cloud Investments will provide capital investment to businesses across its target sectors with a flexible approach, helping management teams to either stabilise previously growing businesses and/or support the growth of companies with strong and scalable business models in the current difficult business climate.
Silver Capital Investments will consider a variety of ownership structures for both owner-managed businesses or companies that have been considered non-core and divested by larger companies. The firm is primarily targeting four core business sectors: industrial technology, telecoms, business services, and software.
Investment criteria are for companies with a record of recurring revenues, a loyal customer base, and a scalable business platform. Typical businesses targeted will have gross margins in excess of 40 per cent, and either an existing or potentially significant business presence in the US and/or British standards markets such as the Middle East and Far East. For companies divested as non-core, the firm will focus on those with strong potential for operational improvement.
Silver Cloud Investments’ strategy is to work as a financing/equity partner, and take a very collaborative approach with all of its portfolio companies. This will provide management teams with a broad mandate for running their companies, while Silver Cloud Investments provides ongoing assistance to help grow each business organically and with bolt on M&A deals.
Growth businesses are facing very challenging times in the midst of the global pandemic. While the government has announced a series of measures to support UK SMEs scale-up businesses, private investment firms such as Silver Cloud Investments have a role to play too, helping growth businesses navigate these difficult times with both capital and operational support.
Over the past 30 years, Silver Cloud’s founder and CEO Stelzer has grown, sold, and listed numerous businesses, and successfully advised a range of entrepreneurs on exiting at premium valuations in a variety of market areas. Previously he was managing partner of UK M&A house Cavendish Corporate Finance, before successfully overseeing the acquisition of Cavendish by leading AIM broker finnCap in December 2018 to form finnCap Group plc. Prior to this, Stelzer was global head of energy controls at then NYSE-quoted company Cooper Industries, a business unit that was created following the sale of his own business to Cooper.
Stelzer says: “I’m delighted to announce the launch of Silver Cloud Investments, which will seek to provide the flexible investment capital that businesses need to underpin their growth and expansion at this difficult time. We will also draw on the firm’s financial expertise and operational skills in order to offer unrivalled finance, support and services to the UK’s growth businesses and look forward to expanding our role in this area in the years to come.”
