Read: Global IPO market springs back to life after two months in a deep freeze But if markets become less resilient, or if a second wave of COVID-19 comes, companies will struggle to raise additional funds in flat or falling markets,” Harrison said. “So far, it’s been surprisingly easy for companies to raise money with demand buoyed by a resurgence in stock markets.
Harrison said the private equity industry was investing to support companies that require assistance during this crisis, but that firepower across the industry may be insufficient to continue this support indefinitely or to the extent required. This obviously can’t continue,” Harrison warned. equities or from existing fund cash balances. And if you look at the detail, the money raised by companies isn’t from fresh investment, it has been recycled from other U.K. “Put simply, there isn’t enough money to go around for this part of the market. Read: U.K.-listed companies rush to raise equity to help steer them through the coronavirus crisis Our fear is that this could prove a drop in the ocean compared with what is needed,” Harrison said.
“Through these, they’ve raised around £3.8 billion. Nearly £14 billion has been raised by 300 companies on the LSE in the first six months of 2020, more than in any year since companies scrambled to repair their balance sheets during the financial crisis of 20, Harrison said, citing Schroders research.Ĭompanies with market caps in the £50 million to £2 billion range, make up 69 of the 300 public equity placings seen so far. The solution lies in equity markets,” Harrison wrote in a recent comment piece. “Encouraging companies to load up on more debt is not the answer. business needs a £30 billion ($38 billion) stock market injection to help companies hit by the pandemic, and called on the government to create a “patient capital fund,” worth £20 billion to £30 billion. We have been impressed by the Group’s journey to date and look forward to working with the team at Responda Group to help them realise their ambitions.”Ĭompletion of the transaction is subject to legal and regulatory approvals.Peter Harrison, Schroders Chief Executive, has said that U.K. We are well-positioned to help Responda Group deliver a targeted buy-and-build strategy and to use our extensive network in the Nordic region to support any future geographic expansion. We look forward to working with the team at IK and are excited to see where this partnership will take us.”Ĭarl Jakobsson, Director at IK Partners and Advisor to the IK Small Cap III Fund, said: “Responda Group is Sweden’s market leader in the inbound contact centre services market for SMEs and has great potential for future growth. Since inception, we have made considerable progress in our field and are proud to have become an industry-leading service provider trusted by highly successful companies in Sweden.
Joakim Ögren, Co-Founder and CEO of Responda Group, said: “We strongly feel that a partnership between Responda Group and IK Partners will help us further develop and achieve growth through the pursuit of a successful M&A strategy. Under the existing management team, the Group has gone from strength to strength and with the support of IK, it hopes to: further broaden its offering for existing customers continue gaining market share in the SME segment through an enhanced go-to-market strategy and drive consolidation in the market via strategic add-ons. The Group has 250 employees who are spread across four offices and serve a diversified customer base of approximately 2,500 companies within the private and public sectors. Both companies have an established track record in the industry and its core offering is centred around managing organisations’ customer service through an omnichannel approach consisting of phone, email, online chat and social media. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Responda AB was founded in 2008 by Joakim Ögren and Magnus Johannessen and later became Responda Group as a result of the acquisition of Kalix Tele24 in 2021. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed. IK is investing from its dedicated pool of Development Capital and is acquiring its stake from the founding management team who will be reinvesting alongside IK.
IK Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK Small Cap III Fund has signed an agreement to invest in Responda Group (“the Group”), a leading provider of business process outsourcing (“BPO”) services to small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) in Sweden.
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