Sovereign named ‘Firm of the Year – UK’

Sovereign Capital, the UK private equity Buy & Build specialist, is delighted to announce that it has been named ‘Firm of the Year – UK’ in the Private Equity International Awards. These awards are the only industry awards in which the winners are determined by votes from the financial community, with more than 35,000 votes cast across all categories this year.

Sovereign had a highly successful 2014, with highlights including the close of its fourth fund at the pre-set hard cap of £395 million and the realisation of its first fund, which delivered a market-leading 3.5x return for investors. In addition, there was considerable investment activity with 15 deals completed, including: the £100m acquisitions of SJD Accountancy and Nixon Williams to form Arkarius Group, the UK’s largest group providing accounting services to the contractor market; the completion of a significant investment in Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service, one of the leading specialist veterinary centres for small animals in the UK; and exiting the global compliance and regulatory services provider Cordium, which delivered a return in excess of 4x to investors.

Sovereign continues to invest across three sectors, Business Support Services, Education & Training and Healthcare Services, committing up to £50m of capital in each platform investment to enable growth through both strategic acquisitions and organic roll outs.

Andrew Hayden, Managing Partner, Sovereign Capital Partners, said: "We are absolutely delighted to have been recognised with this award and thank everyone for their support. It is a win not just for Sovereign but for our management teams with whom we partner to achieve tremendous growth. We would also like to thank the advisors who help us successfully deliver our transactions."