Our founder, Sir Brian Souter, is a dynamic entrepreneur and our approach to investment and risk is reflective of that heritage.
Having grown up on a council estate in Perth, Brian and his sister Ann could never have imagined when they decided to start Stagecoach, running express buses from Scotland to London, that the company would blossom into one of the world’s biggest and most respected transport groups. It did, though, and Brian’s positivity and attitude to risk and reward remains the essence of our business today.
We have invested over £700m in more than 90 unquoted companies since we began in 2008 and we currently have upwards of £400m invested in our current portfolio of more than 40 businesses. Our typical equity cheque is between £2m-£30m, with a sweet spot of £5m-£15m.
Importantly, we take a sector-agnostic and opportunistic approach with a primary focus on private equity investments in unquoted companies where we can invest on our own or with partners.
We have interests in a wide range of sectors, including business services, healthcare, energy, financial services, technology and industrials.
Our success depends on more than just investing capital wisely – we devote time to developing deep relationships with management teams and co-investors that share our attitude to value creation and risk all the time appreciating who is best placed to drive our businesses forward; we believe this is a crucial element of our work.
We invest our own capital and are not limited by process, mechanics, sector, deal size or situation.
We will take both majority or minority positions to invest in a wide variety of deal types and we can be active or passive partners as the situation requires.
We understand that circumstances change. Our flexibility to do what is right for the businesses we are invested in, without the constraints of fund rules or typical private equity timescales, allows us to adapt our approach and perspective to suit.
Our investment hold period has ranged from less than one year to more than 15 years but typically we would target classic private equity timelines of 4-6 years. While we are more than comfortable leading transactions as the only or main investor, we also will invest alongside other investors in a club deal or support other financial sponsors on a deal-by-deal basis as part of a syndicate.
In short, we invest what we like, how we like and when we like, so long as it meets our ethical principles. In line with the firm’s values, we do not consider investments involving alcohol, tobacco, armaments, gambling, or predatory short-term loan companies.
We are disciplined in applying institutional rigour to the details of our investments without complex or lengthy approval processes.
Our partners always know where we stand when making a decision and we strive to be straightforward in our interactions and supportive of the teams we back.
Our team members have a good blend of skills and experience and they look to apply the full range of that expertise to every position we take. Our core team is complemented by an extensive network of experienced non-executives, advisers and operators we can call upon as and when required.
While we take a positive and thoughtful approach to our work, we don’t shy away from challenges or difficult decisions. Often, the detailed nature of our approach leads us to ask questions of businesses that they won’t have asked themselves and that approach does not vary whether we are leading a transaction or investing alongside other financial sponsors. If the evidence and our collective experience supports it, we aren’t afraid to take a different view to other investors.
