Lion Capital seeks $100m

Lion Capital Advisers, a UK-based investment management firm, has launched its first fund. Lion Capital Partners is seeking up to $75 million with the option of raising a further $25 million. The fund plans to invest in smaller UK companies in early- to mid-stage development. The favoured industry sector is life sciences, primarily medical devices and technology.

Paul Loach, a director at Lion Capital Advisors, said: “The huge downturn in the equity markets provides us with tremendous buying opportunities in our part of the private equity market. We are looking to close at the end of July 2003. We expect to be fully invested within nine months and while this may look to be an ambitious target we are confident this is very achievable.”

The fund is structured as a Bermuda-listed five-year closed end fund. The minimum subscription will be $250,000.

Lion Capital Partners was founded in 1998 with the aim of investing in UK development stage companies. The firm’s investment focus is early stage companies that have secured intellectual property, appropriate patents, initial funding and undertaken working trials. The regional focus is companies in the UK and Europe.

Lion made its first investment in March 1999 and has made 16 investments to date; investing $6 million from its own balance sheet and raising in excess of $50 million from experienced investors.

Since 2000 the company has also built an in-house corporate finance team to provide a fully flexible service to its corporate finance clients. Lion Capital Advisers was formed in December 2001 as a new investment advisory and management company with the objectives of providing investment management services to Lion on its portfolio and taking over Lion’s other corporate finance and investment management business.