Panoramic surpasses £100m hard cap for its new UK-focused fund

Glasgow-based Panoramic has held the final close of its Panoramic SME Fund 3 on its hard-cap of £100m.

Funding was raised from a range of institutional investors, with previous investors continuing to back the regional investment house.

Returning investor British Business Bank committed £30m to Panoramic’s newest fund as part of the final close, through its wholly-owned commercial subsidiary British Business Investments.

British Business Bank previously supported Panoramic’s £34m Enterprise Capital Fund 1 through its Enterprise Capital Funds programme in 2010, and the £65m Panoramic Growth Fund 2 via British Patient Capital in 2015.

Fund 3 will be targeted at supporting small and medium-sized companies based across the UK, though the fund manager has tended to focus on Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North of England.

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The new fund will consider a range of sectors and transactions, including management buyouts and replacement capital, as well as financing growth for aspiring business owners.

Usually the first source of institutional capital for the smaller businesses it funds, Panoramic will invest between £2m and £8m into companies that have achieved an Ebitda of more than £500,000 in the prior 12 months.

The new fund will have flexibility in its capital structuring, with investments made through a combination of equity and loan notes, which sees the firm continue the strategy adopted in predecessor funds.

The equity and debt investor said it is already advanced in several transactions that it expects to close in the next couple of months.

Macfarlanes acted as legal adviser to Panoramic.

Source: RealDeals

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