Forward Partners Grp - ARENA JOINS FORWARD PORTFOLIO AFTER PATCH MERGER
13/01/2023 11:51
For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20230113:nRSM7064Ma&default-theme=true
RNS Number : 7064M Forward Partners Group PLC 13 January 2023
Forward Partners Group plc
("Forward Partners" or "the Group")
ARENA JOINS FORWARD PORTFOLIO FOLLOWING PATCH MERGER
Forward Partners Group plc (LSE: FWD), the London-based investment firm
specialising in supporting high growth, early-stage technology businesses,
announces the acquisition of portfolio company Patch Gardens Ltd ("Patch"), by
Arena Online Ltd ("Arena").
● Arena acquires 100% of Patch in an all-share deal
● Forward Partners will now join Arena's shareholder register alongside
Patch's other early supporters, including Octopus Ventures
● As at 30 June 2022, the Company's stake in Patch was held at a valuation
of £3.0m. The Group's new position in Arena will be assessed at year end, but
the acquisition is not expected to result in an uplift in valuation
Patch (https://www.patchplants.com (https://www.patchplants.com) ), a leading
online UK direct-to-consumer plant store was established in 2015 by Freddie
Blackett and has attracted over 250,000 customers since launch. In 2022, it
was recognised by Good Housekeeping as the best plant delivery service in the
UK.
Arena (www.arenaflowers.com (http://www.arenaflowers.com) ) is the UK's
leading ethical flower business. The company fulfils tens of thousands of
deliveries each week of cut flowers, plants and gifts on behalf of some of the
best-known UK brands, as well as through its own direct-to-consumer brand.
Forward Partners first invested in Patch in 2015. The Group expects to retain
its holding in Arena for the foreseeable future.
Nic Brisbourne, CEO at Forward Partners, commented: "Congratulations to Freddy
and the Patch team as they open the next chapter of their growth at Arena.
We've worked closely with the Patch team from inception and have been proud to
see them build a strong, purposeful brand and a product committed to
sustainability and quality.
We're pleased to be joining the newly enlarged Arena group as a shareholder.
We see great potential for value creation as these companies come together,
particularly in logistics related cost synergies. We consider the group to
hold high growth potential and look forward to working together as it
evolves."
ENDS
Enquiries
Forward Partners Group plc via H/Advisors Maitland
Nic Brisbourne, Chief Executive Officer
Liberum Capital Limited Tel: +44 20 3100 2222
(Nominated Adviser and Broker)
Neil Patel
Lauren Kettle
Cara Murphy
H/Advisors Maitland forwardpartners@h-advisors.global
(Financial PR) Tel: +44 (0) 207 379 5151
Sam Turvey
Alistair de Kare-Silver
About Forward Partners
Founded in 2013, Forward Partners is an established and respected London-based
venture capital firm, specialising in supporting high growth, early-stage
technology businesses in the UK.
The Group brings together venture capital provider Forward Ventures and highly
specialised growth support from Forward Studio. This model supports founders
to build stronger businesses faster to provide better outcomes for companies
and investors alike.
The Group makes equity investments in early-stage, high-growth UK companies,
and from inception to its admission to London's AIM market in July 2021 had
made over 60 unique investments and built a portfolio with an Initial
Portfolio NAV in excess of £100m. It holds a nine-year track record of making
venture capital investments, and targets underlying NAV growth of 20% per
annum over the cycle.
The management team brings together highly experienced venture capitalists,
entrepreneurs, and expert consultants. Since 2015, Forward Partners has been
backed by BlackRock, one of the largest institutional investors in the world.
The Group receives over 4,000 start-up funding applications every year.
For more information, visit https://forwardpartners.com
(https://forwardpartners.com)
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
. END MSCGPUQCGUPWGGW