Gresham, the UK mid market private equity firm, has completed the GBP25m management buyout of Investis, a UK provider of digital corporate communications for public companies.
At the same time, the investor relations business of Hemscott has been acquired by Investis from Morningstar.
Gresham intends to use its investment in Investis as a platform to accelerate the development of new digital products, to extend its reach to new customers in new geographies and to make acquisitions both in the UK and internationally. It will take advantage of Investis’ market leading position in digital corporate communications for listed companies including the provision of corporate and investor relations websites, apps, mobile and social media and to invest in new client solutions including data-centric products and additional services delivered through proprietary software.
Headquartered in London, it services over 1,000 clients across the globe from offices in five countries. Investis was founded in 2000 and has grown rapidly since inception. Investis has a global reach and a strong European presence with over 250 staff based in UK, Germany, Italy, Finland and India. Clients include over 50 per cent of the FTSE 100. The acquisition of the investor relations business of Hemscott adds over another 500 clients together with operations in the US.
Paul Franks (pictured), partner, Gresham Private Equity, says: “We are delighted to back Helen James, chief executive officer, and the team at Investis in the buyout. We set out about 12 months ago to find a platform digital corporate communications business with a number of key attributes including being a market leader with an international footprint and having a blue chip client base with best in class products; Investis absolutely met our criteria. We look forward to working with the team to accelerate Investis’ strong track record of profitable growth both organically and through acquisition.”
Helen James, chief executive of Investis, says: “At Investis we are the best at what we do, and we have always been the innovator in our market allowing us to deliver the best possible solutions for our clients. The backing of Gresham will allow us to move faster than ever, and I cannot think of a better way to start a new phase of the company’s development than with the acquisition of Hemscott IR.”
