Alchemy Partners is a British

private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...

, which specialises in investing in distressed and undervalued or underperforming businesses and other

special situation A special situation in finance is an atypical event which has the high potential to alter the future course of a business, materially impacting the company's value. The connotation of the event may be both positive (for example, merger or acquisiti ...

s through debt and equity throughout Europe. Alchemy was founded in 1997 by Martin Bolland, Robert Barnes and Jon Moulton. Before launching dedicated distressed vehicles, it invested in other transactions. Notable transactions included

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, Alcentra and Phoenix IT. Alchemy came to public notice in 1999, when it was negotiating to buy Rover Group from

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

; its advisory board members included former Rover MD Kevin Morley. After public protests, the discussions were abandoned when the government imposed additional conditions to the transaction. Alchemy launched its first

distressed debt In corporate finance, distressed securities are securities over companies or government entities that are experiencing financial or operational distress, default, or are under bankruptcy. As far as debt securities, this is called distressed debt. ...

fund, Alchemy Special Opportunities, in 2006 with a final close of £300m. Moulton resigned from Alchemy in September 2009, saying that he disagreed with plans by other partners to turn Alchemy into a specialist financial services firm. Alchemy raised £500m for the second distressed debt fund in 2010 and £600m for Alchemy Special Opportunities Fund III in March 2014. A fourth fund was announced in August 2017, with a final close of $1.2bn in October 2018. The Funds invest in the debt and equity of public and private companies in the UK and continental Europe. Funding is provided by a large number of blue-chip investors including major banks, pension funds, fund-of-funds, university endowments and high-net-worth individuals. Today the firm manages over £1.5bn. Alchemy is structured as an advisory business based in London, Alchemy Partners LLP, which advises a fund manager based in

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, Alchemy Partners (Guernsey) Ltd.

Investments

In 2006, Alchemy acquired a majority stake of Revolution Bars Group for a sum of £42.5m. In November 2011, Alchemy, together with Ashmore, invested $6.43m in Seed Infotech. In May 2014, Alchemy invested in Hampshire Trust Bank. In November 2014, Alchemy, together with American

Davidson Kempner Capital Management Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP (often known by the short form Davidson Kempner) is a global institutional alternative investment management firm with over $36 billion in assets under management. Davidson Kempner is headquartered in New Yor ...

, invested in French casino operators and online sports betting platform JOA Groupe, acquiring a majority stake. In January 2015, Alchemy supported London-based

Incisive Media Incisive Media is a Business-to-business financial company. It is based in London, England. History Incisive Media is a business-to-business (B2B) financial company founded by Tim Weller, in 1994 with the launch of '' Investment Week''. It ac ...

in their debt-for-equity restructuring, acquiring a majority stake. In November 2016, Alchemy invested an undisclosed amount in M2 Subsea, the Aberdeen and Houston based provider of remotely operated vehicles for the oil and gas industry. In October 2017, Alchemy sold its stake in JOA Groupe to Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Kings Park Capital. In June 2021, Alchemy invested £100m in London-based

payment service provider A payment service provider (PSP) is a third-party company that allows businesses to accept electronic payments, such as credit card and debit card payments. PSPs act as intermediaries between those who make payments, i.e. consumers, and those who ...

DNA Payments. In October 2021, Alchemy invested $90m in Apollo Group Holdings, an independent Lloyd's specialist insurance and reinsurance group, based in London.

References

External links

* {{private equity firms Private equity firms of the United Kingdom