Sovereign Capital

Sovereign Capital Partners
Industry	Private equity
Founded	2001
Headquarters	London, England
Key people	Andrew Hayden (Chairman), Dominic Dalli (Managing Partner), Matthew Owen (Partner), David Myers (Partner), Jeremy Morgan (Partner), Jonathan Thorne (Partner), Alex Hay (Partner), Jake Warman (Partner) and Kevin Whittle (Partner)
Total assets	£1,300m
Website	sovereigncapital.co.uk

Last updated August 08, 2023

Sovereign Capital Partners is a UK-based private equity firm focused on providing transformational growth to UK and European lower mid-market businesses in the following sectors: business and technology services, financial services and insurance, healthcare and pharmaceutical services, and education and training.

Current investments

Highlights include:

Agena, formerly known as Premier Park, a UK-based multi-disciplinary company specialising in parking and software solutions.^[2]
Eden Futures, a provider of specialist care and supported living services.^[3]
Murgitroyd, a European provider of IP services, delivering patent and trade mark legal advice and IP support services.^[4]^[5]
Nurseplus, a provider of nursing and healthcare professional services to the health and social care sectors.^[6]^[7]
Utility Bidder, an energy broker offering energy procurement services to UK SMEs.^[8]^[9]

Notable exits

Alveo, formerly Asset Control,^[10] a provider of financial data management software to financial institutions. Sovereign supported an MBO in 2018^[11] and sold to funds managed by Symphony Technology Group in January 2023.^[12]^[13] Sovereign’s investment enabled the digital transformation of the business and accelerate its growth, culminating in its rebrand to Alveo in December 2020. Sovereign also facilitated the strengthened the management team via the appointments of a Chair, CTO and CFO.^[14]
Arachas is an Ireland-based corporate, SME and affinity scheme insurance brokerage. Sovereign supported an MBO in 2017 and facilitated four acquisitions and increased EBITDA by c.3x^[15] before the business was acquired by Madison Dearborn Partners and HPS Investment Partners. The sale generated a 5.5x money return for Sovereign and its investors.^[16] The exit was named UK Lower Mid-cap Deal of the Year at the Real Deals' Private Equity Awards 2021.^[17] The judges selected Arachas because of the “ingenuity and consolidation it brought to the Irish market…and the series of acquisitions in the market which made it attractive to its US secondary buyer.”^[18]
BIMM Institute, a provider of creative arts education in Europe. Sovereign backed an MBO in 2010 and helped BIMM to grow from two UK colleges to 12 colleges across Europe, increasing student numbers from 1,150 to around 8,200 students when the business was sold to ICG in November 2020.^[19]^[20]^[21]
Linnaeus Group, a UK veterinary services provider. In 2014, Sovereign backed Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service^[22] and subsequently created the Linnaeus Group^[23] to create a market-leading veterinary group. Sovereign and the company embarked on an ambitious Buy & Build strategy, completing a total of 21 acquisitions, increasing the number of sites from 1 to 87, and growing the team from 120 to over 1,400 including, c.360 vets and c.160 specialists.^[24] Linnaeus was acquired by Mars Petcare’s Veterinary Health Group, a part of Mars Incorporated, in 2018.^[25]^[26] The exit won two awards: UK Mid-Cap Exit of the Year at the Unquote British Private Equity Awards 2019,^[27] and UK Mid-Cap Deal of the Year at the Real Deals Private Equity Awards 2019.^[28]

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References

External links

Official website

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[1] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/our-approach

[2] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/our-investments/agena-group/

[3] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/our-investments/eden-futures/

[4] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/our-investments/murgitroyd-group/

[5] ttps://realdeals.eu.com/article/sovereign-completes-65m-take-private-deal

[6] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/our-investments/nurse-plus/

[7] ttps://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent-business/county-news/shot-in-the-arm-for-29635/

[8] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/our-investments/utility-bidder/

[9] ttps://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/azYYVyRz-z7t_PdyS9L4hQ2

[10] ttps://www.alveotech.com/news-articles/asset-control-rebrands-as-alveo/

[11] ttps://www.finextra.com/pressarticle/75357/asset-control-acquired-by-sovereign-capital-partners

[12] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/news/sovereign-announces-sale-of-alveo/

[13] ttps://a-teaminsight.com/blog/alveo-plans-acceleration-of-new-products-following-investment-from-symphony-technology-group/?brand=tti

[14] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/our-investments/alveo/

[15] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/our-investments/arachas/

[16] ttps://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/uZJoES1SUENhgZQqq0LydA2

[17] ttps://privateequityawards.com/winners2021

[18] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/news/sovereign-wins-uk-lower-mid-cap-deal-of-the-year-at-the-british-private-equity-awards-for-arachas/

[19] ttps://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/bimm-sold-to-icg-61419030

[20] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/news/sovereign-exits-its-investment-in-bimm-europes-leading-provider-of-creative-arts-education/

[21] ttps://news.sky.com/story/music-colleges-rock-and-roll-towards-sovereign-sale-11780808

[22] ttps://www.insidermedia.com/news/midlands/veterinary-group-sold-by-private-equity-firm

[23] ttps://www.frpadvisory.com/services/corporate-finance/deals/village-vet/

[24] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/news/sovereign-sells-veterinary-services-provider-linnaeus-its-biggest-ever-exit/

[25] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/news/sovereign-sells-veterinary-services-provider-linnaeus-its-biggest-ever-exit/

[26] ttps://www.mars.com/news-and-stories/press-releases/Linneaus-acquisition

[27] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/news/sovereign-wins-uk-mid-cap-exit-of-the-year-at-the-british-private-equity-awards-for-linnaeus-group/

[28] ttps://www.sovereigncapital.co.uk/news/sovereign-wins-uk-mid-cap-deal-year-private-equity-awards-successful-exit-linnaeus-group/

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