Riverside eyes up UK investment prospects
Private equity firm Riverside is looking to invest in companies in the Midlands. UK regional director Lars Eriksson spoke to Insider as the firm prepares to launch its first office in the country.
Eriksson said the firm, which will open its UK office in September, was looking to invest in companies in healthcare, energy, manufacturing, training and education sectors in particular.
He described the firm as being "the new kid on the block", but said it wanted to complete at least one or two deals within the UK over the next year.
"There are many exciting companies which could benefit from our investment", he said. "Riverside is quite unique in that we are a global firm but invest in companies with a leading position in their niche market. We fund businesses with £20m turnover or more, so they can be relatively small."
Eriksson added that the UK's M&A market "had not been booming" over the past year or so, but said the firm now wanted to assist companies which had struggled to raise funding from banks.
"We have helped companies set up factories in Hong Kong, expand their operations into the US – hopefully we can invest in companies in the Midlands and across the UK and get the same results."
