All Seas Capital makes second investment partnering with Attivo Group
All Seas Capital Fund, a pan-European private capital fund that provides flexible long-term financing solutions to leading mid cap companies, announces its second investment, partnering with Attivo Group Limited (“Attivo” or the “Company”), a leading independent Chartered Financial Planning business.
Founded by Stephen Harper in 2005, Attivo provides advice on investments, retirement planning, tax planning and estate planning to over 2,500 private clients and businesses across the UK. It has a proven track record of growing organically and delivering value from acquisitions, taking advantage of the consolidation opportunity in the broader independent financial advice market as increasing regulation and IT burdens push single operators into larger platforms and / or retirement. The Company has a clear strategy to fully integrate its acquisitions into the business to ensure seamless client service.
Attivo has strengthened its core operational functions over the past three years, investing significantly in its scalable technology, operations and compliance functions. Furthermore, Attivo was ranked in the top 10 financial advisory businesses by the Financial Times in 2020.
The All Seas Capital team have partnered with Attivo to support the long-term growth of the business. They will working closely with Stephen and his team to accelerate the integration of smaller financial advisory firms, prepare the business for the next stage of its development, and in the execution of key supplemental organic growth initiatives.
All Seas Capital was recently launched by Marc Ciancimino and Cristobal Cuart who co-founded and led KKR's European mezzanine and preferred equity business. All Seas Capital provides transformational capital solutions and board level expertise to entrepreneurs who need strategic capital, but do not want to sell a majority stake. Attivo is All Seas Capital’s second transaction, following its investment in Hakim Opticians Group, a rapidly growing portfolio of independent opticians across the UK.
Stephen Harper, Founder and CEO of Attivo Group Limited, said:
We have taken time over the last few years to prepare our business for the growth that funding facilitates, and looked at a number of investors. We are delighted to have partnered with All Seas Capital who have been brilliant throughout the whole process. We quickly formed a personal rapport with Cristobal and the All Seas team, based on their entrepreneurial approach and decades of expertise, so they stood out as the obvious choice. I am confident that we will have a very profitable long term relationship.
Cristobal Cuart, Co-Founder of All Seas Capital, commented:
All Seas Capital partners with entrepreneur and family-owned mid-market businesses across Western Europe, established businesses that are looking for support and capital as the catalyst for real business growth. Attivo is a thriving financial services business with an ambitious management team, which is perfectly aligned with our strategy. It's been a pleasure building a relationship with the Attivo team, and we're looking forward to growing the business together.
Marc Ciancimino, Co-Founder of All Seas Capital, also commented:
Attivo is a great fit for All Seas Capital. We partner with entrepreneur and family-owned mid-market businesses across Western Europe, businesses that already have a certain amount of scale but are in need of support and capital as the catalyst for real business growth. We have already got to work with Stephen and his team to deliver Attivo’s next stage of growth.
All Seas Capital was advised by Travers Smith and PwC, and Attivo was advised by Deloitte and Gateleys
For further information, please contact:
All Seas Capital
Gemma Braithwaite IR Managing Director +44 7834 319857
braithwaite@allseascapital.com
Charlotte Balbirnie +44 7989 528421
About All Seas Capital
All Seas Capital is a pan-European private capital fund that provides flexible long-term financing solutions to leading mid cap companies. The team is led by Marc Ciancimino and Cristobal Cuart who co-founded and led KKR's European mezzanine and preferred equity business, and have an extensive career track record with €3.4bn invested across 45 businesses.
We partner with and provide transformational capital solutions and board level expertise to Western European entrepreneur- and family-owned mid-market businesses who need strategic capital, but do not want to sell majority stakes. We identify businesses that already have a certain amount of scale but are in need of support and capital as the catalyst for real business growth.
All Seas Capital’s hybrid strategy, investing a combination of debt and equity, integrates ESG considerations throughout its investment process to help position its portfolio for long term, sustained growth. As a signatory to the UN PRI and UN Global Compact, the team applies a two-step diligence process that considers sector agnostic and sector specific ESG factors. All Seas makes investments from €20-100m.
Marc Ciancimino, Co-Founder
Prior to starting All Seas, Marc was a partner (“Member”) of KKR & Co where he spent a decade and started the European dimension of the firm’s private credit activities with a special emphasis on hybrid transactions. He sat on the Global Private Credit Committee and was a Portfolio Management Committee member. He started his career in 1995 at Citibank and also worked at Bankers Trust before moving to the buyside in 1999. He has invested over $1.9Bn since he started his career.
Cristobal Cuart, Co-Founder
Prior to All Seas, Cristobal was a Director at KKR which he joined in 2010 where he was a senior member of the European private credit platform, working closely with Marc Ciancimino to launch and grow the firms European private credit activities. He has invested over $2.2 billion into privately held businesses throughout his career.
