St Helen's to float £3m 'private' fund

CORPORATE adviser St Helen's has set up a fund to tap into privately-owned firms planning a float and will list the unit on Ofex to raise £3m to finance its first deals.

St Helen's Private Equity will target such firms in the pre-offer stage, giving 'the greatest scope for achieving growth', and will hold positions for up to 18 months before recycling capital into new investments.

Mainly targeting firms preparing to join the Aim and Ofex markets, SHPE believes it can generate return on investment of 30% to 40%.

Holding up to 20 separate stakes of £50,000-250,000 at any one time, SHPE aims to reward its own shareholders through capital growth and by keeping a £4m-£5m lid on the fund's size. This means it should be able to return excess cash to shareholders through dividends.

'We are creating a mini-investment banking business,' said managing director Mark Warde-Norbury. SHPE hopes to raise the cash by issuing 3m, 100p shares, which would take its market value to £4.3m. The shares are expected to float towards the end of the year.