Unlike many private equity (PE) firms, Inverleith’s partners are all former CEOs and Chairmen to several multinational companies, bringing a wealth of operational sector experience and a dedication to actively build companies to become market sector leaders. But the firm realised that they communicated more like operational experts, rather than pure PE investors. They needed to do both.

During our ‘discovery’ sessions, the partners spoke about a passion for building consumer brands by applying their hybrid investing and operating skills – with less focus on investor led techniques like financial engineering and debt structuring. At the heart of Inverleith was the desire to create and build businesses with something significant to deliver.

We realised that Inverleith’s ethos and innate insight into why each investment would grow would be critical information for investors. We helped them to acknowledge and balance communicating their strong operating capabilities with their investment expertise and experience.

We developed funding documentation that balanced the compelling investor message – that British lower mid-capital businesses were poorly served with growth capital and management support – with language and content that played to Inverleith’s strengths: their passion and track record of taking consumer brands to the next level.

We placed their nous as investors centre stage, making explicit the opportunity for sector growth evidenced by case studies of successful companies like English winemakers Chapel Down, the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society and gluten-free company Genius. In so doing, this illustrated the way Inverleith operated, describing not just how they helped in terms of managerial leadership, but also the return on investment that came as a consequence.