Alchemy Partners is a British
private equity firm
A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...
, which specialises in investing in distressed and undervalued or underperforming businesses and other
special situation A special situation in finance is an atypical event which has the high potential to alter the future course of a business, materially impacting the company's value. The connotation of the event may be both positive (for example, merger or acquisitio ...
s through debt and equity throughout Europe.
Alchemy was founded in 1997 by
Martin Bolland and
Jon Moulton. Before launching dedicated distressed vehicles, it invested over £1bn of equity in over 80 transactions. Notable transactions included Four Seasons Health Care, Alcentra and Phoenix IT.
Alchemy came to public notice in 1999, when it was negotiating to buy
Rover Group
The Rover Group plc was the British vehicle manufacturing conglomerate known as "BL plc" until 1986 (formerly British Leyland), which had been a state-owned company since 1975. It initially included the Austin Rover Group car business (comprisi ...
from
BMW; its advisory board members included former Rover MD
Kevin Morley. After public protests, the discussions were abandoned when the government imposed additional conditions to the transaction.
Alchemy launched its first
distressed debt Distressed securities are securities over companies or government entities that are experiencing financial or operational distress, default, or are under bankruptcy. As far as debt securities, this is called distressed debt. Purchasing or holding s ...
fund, Alchemy Special Opportunities, in 2006 with a final close of £300m.
Moulton resigned from Alchemy in September 2009, saying that he disagreed with plans by other partners to turn Alchemy into a specialist financial services firm.
Alchemy raised £500m for the second distressed debt fund in 2010 and £600m for Alchemy Special Opportunities Fund III in March 2014.
[ A fourth fund was announced in August 2017.
The Funds invest in the debt and equity of public and private companies in the UK and continental Europe. Funding is provided by a large number of blue-chip investors including major banks, pension funds, fund-of-funds, university endowments and high-net-worth individuals. Today the firm manages over £1.5bn.][
Alchemy is structured as an advisory business based in London, Alchemy Partners LLP, which advises a fund manager based in ]Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
, Alchemy Partners (Guernsey) Ltd.
References
External links
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{{private equity firms
Private equity firms of the United Kingdom