Private equity firm Inflexion raises £1bn in two buyout funds
Private equity firm Inflexion, which owns retailer Mountain Warehouse and previously backed clothing brand Jack Wills, has raised £1bn from US investors attracted to the UK by the Brexit related slide in sterling.
The two funds, which are expected to be officially announced this week, will target small and mid-sized deals and co-investment opportunities with a focus on the UK.
Read more: Private equity investment boosts UK business revenue by 50 per cent
Institutional investors include the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, the State of Wisconsin and the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, the Financial Times reported.
“The UK has become more attractive due to the devaluation of the pound against the dollar and the euro,” a person close to the fundraising told the Financial Times.
“If you are a US investor, you might conclude that right now sterling is inexpensive on a historic basis.”
More than half of the investors to the new funds came from the US, 20 to 30 per cent from Asia and the rest from Europe.
Inflexion declined to comment.
Read more: US private equity activity slumps in first quarter
Private equity investment in the UK bounced back at the beginning of this year following a slump in the fourth quarter of 2018 despite Brexit uncertainty.
Total deal value climbed from £6.1bn in the fourth quarter of 2018 to £8.9bn between January and March this year, a £3.9bn increase from the £5bn total value in the first quarter of last year.