London-based growth capital investor, VGC Partners, has appointed Alex Read as Director, New Investments, as the firm looks to back more businesses from its GBP50m growth capital fund.Read joins from Alantra, a global investment banking and asset management firm, where he spent three years as an Origination Associate. In his role, he was involved in direct deal origination of privately-owned businesses and financial sponsor coverage with small-cap and mid-market private equity firms, reporting directly to the firm’s senior partners. Prior to this, he began his investment banking career at Spayne Lindsay & Co, a specialist consumer boutique advisory.
Read’s career began at Tullow Oil, a leading independent oil and gas exploration and production company. In his six years there, Read worked in all aspects of commercial activity including deal origination, M&A, asset valuation, long-term strategic planning and commercial negotiation.
In his new role at VGC Partners, Read will seek out and execute investment opportunities for the firm’s GBP50m Fund I, which invests between GBP2 million and GBP5 million for minority stakes in innovative, early-stage consumer, media and tech businesses. The fund, which has been backed with GBP30m investment from British Business Bank, closed in 2019.
VGC Partners was established in 2011 by Parminder Basran. The firm’s most recent investment was a GBP3.5 million minority stake in WIT Fitness, a London-based sportswear retailer which has launched exclusive sneaker collaborations with the likes of Nike, Adidas and Reebok. The firm also recently completed a partial exit in SuperAwesome, a media business that enables safe digital engagement for children, for a three-times return.
Read says: “Parminder and his team have gained a reputation for identifying quality high-growth businesses at an early-stage and helping them transform into successful, global companies. With a new fund and capital ready to invest, as well as an experienced team on board, VGC Partners is in an excellent position and I’m excited to work alongside exciting entrepreneurs and businesses with huge growth potential.”
Parminder Basran, Founder and Managing Partner at VGC Partners, says: “We’ve known Alex for many years, and we’re excited he is joining the VGC Partners team. He brings with him an impressive network of not only high growth start-ups, but also other private equity firms and corporates. In that regard, Alex has joined us at the perfect time as we are at the start of the investment period for our first growth capital fund and actively seeking new opportunities in the market.”
