RCS - Funding Focus I.T. - Funding Focus to seek LSE listing

DillistoneAnnouncement

10/03/2022 08:15

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RNS Number : 2712E  Funding Focus Investment Trust PLC  10 March 2022

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STATE OF THE EEA WHERE SECURITIES OF FUNDING FOCUS INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
("FUNDING FOCUS INVESTMENT TRUST", "FFIT" OR "THE COMPANY") MAY BE LAWFULLY
MARKETED) OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE IT IS UNLAWFUL TO DISTRIBUTE THIS
ANNOUNCEMENT. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR FORM
PART OF ANY OFFER TO ISSUE OR SELL, OR ANY SOLICITATION OF ANY OFFER TO
SUBSCRIBE OR PURCHASE, ANY INVESTMENTS IN ANY JURISDICTION.  This
announcement is an advertisement for the purposes of the Prospectus Regulation
Rules of the UK Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") and not a prospectus.
 Neither this announcement nor anything contained in it shall form the basis
of, or be relied upon in connection with, any offer or commitment whatsoever
in any jurisdiction. Investors should not purchase or subscribe for any
transferable securities referred to in this announcement except on the basis
of information contained in the prospectus (the "Prospectus") in its final
form expected to be published by Funding Focus Investment Trust in due course
in connection with the proposed admission ("Admission") of its ordinary shares
to the premium listing segment of the Official List maintained by the FCA (the
"Official List") and to trading on the London Stock Exchange plc's (the
"London Stock Exchange") main market for listed securities (the "Main
Market"). Copies of the Prospectus will, following publication, be available
for inspection from  https://ffitplc.com

 

FUNDING FOCUS INVESTMENT TRUST IN PROCESS OF SEEKING A

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE LISTING

TO SUPPORT FEMALE AND UNDER-REPRESENTED ENTREPRENEURS

 

·    Announced at London Stock Exchange event during International Women's
Week

·    Fund seeks to address under investment in female and
under-represented groups

·    The majority female board is chaired by Shalini Khemka, CBE

 

10 March 2022: Funding Focus Investment Trust plc, the investment trust for
female and under-represented entrepreneurs, announces today that it is in
process of seeking approval of a prospectus from the FCA with a view to
launching an offer for subscription. It has filed an Early Notification of
Listing with the London Stock Exchange. FFIT will offer investors access to
businesses it has identified as high growth businesses across the UK and
Europe, led by entrepreneurs who identify as female and/or non-white
ethnicity.

 

FFIT seeks to address the chronic under-investment in female and
under-represented entrepreneurs of all genders in the UK and Europe, and to
rectify the strong bias in the venture capital industry towards all male
founding teams( 1 ).  For example, across the UK and Europe, despite the
record-breaking sums invested, the share of funding to mixed gender teams fell
from 14.6% in 2020 to 13.6% in 2021, and the share to all-female teams
collapsed from 2.4% to just 1.0% of the total.( 2 )

 

The Board has extensive investment, entrepreneurial and professional expertise
and is chaired by Shalini Khemka, CBE, Founder & CEO of E2E and Business
Advisory Board Member to The Mayor of London.  She was a former Investment
Director at Lloyds Development Capital and Dealmaker for the Government
focused on attracting fast growth tech start-ups to the UK. The other
Non-Executive Directors are: Julie Pomeroy (Chartered Accountant and
experienced listed company Finance Director), Fran Boorman (award-winning
business leader and author), Sophie Milliken (multi-award winning
entrepreneur), Mehmuda Mian (former solicitor in commercial and professional
indemnity litigation). The Executive Directors and Founders of FFIT are David
B Horne (CEO) and John P de Blocq van Kuffeler (CIO).

 

Shalini Khemka CBE, Chair of Funding Focus Investment Trust said:

"Having worked directly in private equity for a number of years and more
recently indirectly with venture capital firms across the UK, it concerns me
greatly that there is significant under-representation of both women and
ethnic minorities in leadership positions and on investment committees. Our
purpose is to address these unfair challenges by giving access to capital
typically required by these groups as they scale their businesses. I am
pleased to be working alongside David, John and four very experienced women,
all of whom will be sitting on FFIT's investment committee."

 

David B Horne, CEO & Founder of Funding Focus Investment Trust said:

"We believe that many businesses do not lack vision or potential, they just
lack access to appropriate capital and governance to help them realise their
growth potential. Our role is to identify and support these visionary and
innovative entrepreneurs and their companies through equity funding to fully
realise their potential."

 

Today's LSE event which is part of International Women's Week will include
talks on why female and underrepresented entrepreneurs face these significant
barriers in the investment world, debates on which approaches have worked and
which ones could significantly improve the situation, as well as discussion on
innovative and creative routes to funding.  The event starts at 13.00 GMT.

 

Keynote speakers are: Jane Clarke, Founder of Nourish; Olivia James,
performance specialist therapist, Bente Ottersen, Founder of Titles-On and
Ishveen Jolly, Founder of OpenSponsorship.  There will also be a panel
discussion chaired by Shalini Khemka CBE, featuring Paula Groves, Chief
Investment Officer, ImpactX Capital, Daina Spedding, Investor, BGF, Alexandra
Daly, CEO and Founder, AA Advisors and Sarah Turner, Founder, Angel Academe.

 

To find out more and register for free tickets, visit:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/funding-focus-international-womens-week-conference-2022-tickets-251307025077?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

 

- ENDS -

 

 

For further information, please contact the FFIT press office:

E: hello@ffitplc.com

T: +44 771 774 2134

 

 

About FUNDING FOCUS INVESTMENT TRUST

The purpose of FFIT is to address the unfair challenges and access to capital
typically faced by female and under-represented entrepreneurs as they scale
their businesses. Provided the appropriate capital support and governance,
Funding Focus Investment Trust believe these entrepreneurs and their companies
will deliver superior returns.

 

 

 

ABOUT THE BOARD

 

Shalini Khemka, CBE, Non-Executive Chair

Shalini is Founder & CEO of E2E, which helps founders to scale and avoid
many of the challenges she faced in her first business. By connecting
founders, investors, NEDs, mentors and corporates Shalini has developed
invaluable experience serving the entrepreneurial community and the UK
economy.

 

Julie Pomeroy, Audit Committee Chair and Non-Executive Director

Julie has been Chief Financial Officer/Finance Director of four listed
companies, Weston Medical Group plc (1999-2002), Carter and Carter Group plc
(2002-05), Biofuels International plc (2006-10) and Dillistone Group plc
(2010-2021) where she continues to serve as a Non-Executive Director. During
her time with Dillistone Group plc, Julie led the acquisitions of three
companies in transactions valued at £6 million in total.

 

Fran Boorman, Non-Executive Director

Fran is an award-winning business leader and author. Her business became the
fastest growing in its sector with a nationwide team of over 1,000 people due
to the  mentoring culture she developed.

 

Sophie Milliken, Non-Executive Director

Sophie is a multi-award winning entrepreneur, author and speaker who built and
sold her recruitment business to a private equity group. She is Chair of Smart
Works Newcastle, supporting unemployed women across the north east, a
supporter of Northern Power Women and co-founder of City Ladies Networking.

 

Mehmuda Mian, Non-Executive Director

A former solicitor, Mehmuda practised in commercial and professional indemnity
litigation. Committed to rigorous standards in public life, she has taken on
numerous high profile roles, including being the first female Muslim BBC
Trustee and a Commissioner of the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
She is a lay member of the House of Commons Select Committee on Standards.

 

David B Horne, Co-Founder and CEO

David has raised more than £100 million in debt and equity funding and bought
or sold twenty-four companies. In 2019 his award-winning book Add then
Multiply - How small businesses can think like big businesses and achieve
exponential growth was published. Also in 2019, he founded Funding Focus, a
social enterprise whose mission is to level the uneven playing field that
female and underrepresented entrepreneurs of all genders face when raising
capital.

 

John P de Blocq van Kuffeler, Co-Founder and CIO

John has 34 years' experience as Chairman or CEO of listed PLCs and private
equity backed companies, specialising in turning small and medium sized
companies into sector leaders. He has also served for 16 years on the boards
of two investment trusts, of which 10 were as Chair. Earlier in his career, he
was a Department Head running 4 successful private equity funds. Since 2008 he
has been Chair of three private equity backed groups: Hyperion Insurance
Group, which delivered an IRR of 22% per annum between 2009-14, Marlin
Financial Group, which delivered an IRR of 42% per annum between 2010-14 and
Paratus AMC Limited, the sale of which is in the course of completion at a
high return to shareholders.

 

Important Legal Information and Risk Warnings

 

The contents of this announcement, which has been prepared by and is the sole
responsibility of Funding Focus Investment Trust PLC, have been approved
solely for the purposes of section 21(2)(b) of the Financial Services and
Markets Act 2000 by Beaumont Cornish Limited, acting as Sponsor to the
Company, and which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services
Authority.

 

The information contained in this announcement is for background purposes only
and does not purport to be full or complete. No reliance may be placed by any
person for any purpose on the information contained in this announcement or
its accuracy, fairness or completeness.

 

Beaumont Cornish Limited is acting exclusively for the Company and no one else
in connection with the proposed offer of shares in the Company, and will not
regard any other person (whether or not a recipient of this document) as its
client in relation to such offer and will not be responsible to anyone other
than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients, nor
for providing advice in relation to such offer or any transaction, matter, or
arrangement referred to in this announcement to be published in connection
with such offer.

 

Any subscription or purchase of shares in the proposed offer should be made
solely on the basis of information contained in the Prospectus which may be
issued by the Company in connection with such offer. The information in this
announcement is subject to change. Before subscribing for or purchasing any
Shares, persons viewing this announcement should ensure that they fully
understand and accept the risks which will be set out in the Prospectus. No
reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information contained in this
announcement or its accuracy or completeness. Approval of the Prospectus by
the FCA should not be understood as an endorsement of the securities offered
or admitted to trading.

 

The timetable for any offer may be influenced by a variety of factors which
include market conditions. Funding Focus Investment Trust may decide not to go
ahead with the proposed offer and there is therefore no guarantee that
Admission will occur. Potential investors should not base their financial
decision on this announcement. Acquiring investments to which this
announcement relates may expose an investor to a significant risk of losing
all of the amount invested. Persons considering making investments should
consult an authorised person specialising in advising on such investments.
This announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning any offer of
securities of the Company. Potential investors should be aware that the value
of shares can decrease as well as increase. Potential investors should consult
a professional advisor as to the suitability of any offer of securities of the
Company for the person concerned.

 

Nothing contained in this announcement constitutes or should be construed as
(i) investment, tax, financial, accounting or legal advice; (ii) a
representation that any investment or strategy is suitable or appropriate to
your individual circumstances; or (iii) a personal recommendation to you.

 

None of Beaumont Cornish Limited or the Company and/or any of their
respective  directors, officers, employees, advisers and/or agents accepts
any responsibility or liability whatsoever for, or makes any representation or
warranty, express or implied, as to, the truth, accuracy or completeness of
the information in this announcement.

 

 1  British Business Bank's report "UK VC & Female Founders"

 2  Pitchbook "The European VC Female Founders Dashboard" at 3 March 2022

 

 

 

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