Beech Tree Private Equity today announces the successful closing of its second fund, Beech Tree Private Equity Fund II, taking funds under management to £115 million. We also announce the appointment of Peter Hosker, Operating Director and further bolt on acquisitions for our portfolio companies.

Beech Tree Private Equity are pleased to announce the successful closing of its fund raising with funds under management increasing from £40 million to £115 million. This is a very significant step and has attracted the support of both existing and new blue-chip investors.

Beech Tree Private Equity are also pleased to announce the recruitment of Peter Hosker, Operating Director, to its team. Peter brings a wealth of experience in building companies, having a background in both finance and operations. Peter will be focused exclusively on helping Beech Tree portfolio companies execute their business plans. This investment recognises the importance Beech Tree place on working alongside its management teams in building class-leading businesses.

We are also pleased to announce further deal activity to grow our existing portfolio businesses. Wavenet, our unified communications business, has acquired Swains PLC. Swains, based in Norfolk, is a leading provider of business communications solutions including telephony, internet and mobile. This follows on the back of Wavenet acquiring Talk Internet in March 2017. Fluent Money, our on-line loans broking business, has acquired Brytannic Extra Finance, a Bury-based specialist mortgage adviser and equity release broker.

Commenting on the fund raise, Paul Franks, Managing Partner of Beech Tree Private Equity said "We are delighted with our progress since setting up the business in early 2015. We are very proud to have attracted high quality investors to our proposition and taking funds under management to well in excess of £100 million. The focus we have of finding high-growth opportunities in really exciting sectors resonates well with investors. Having a regional network to help tap into these opportunities is really powerful".

Andy Marsh, Managing Partner of Beech Tree Private Equity said "We have been really busy in building our portfolio and accelerating the development of our businesses. The recent M&A activity in our portfolio demonstrates our commitment to build up companies into class-leading businesses. We have to date invested in four businesses, in every single one of these we have added to the core business with acquisitions. The addition of our Operating Director, Peter Hosker, will add further dedicated resource to support our portfolio companies through these periods of rapid growth"

About Beech Tree Private Equity:

Beech Tree Private Equity is a private equity firm providing capital and expertise to fast growing businesses across the UK. Beech Tree Private Equity invest £10-30 million into high growth companies typically valued at between £10 and 75 million. The business was founded by two experienced private equity investors, Andy Marsh and Paul Franks, who have over 25 years' experience in private equity targeting high growth sub-sectors. Beech Tree Private Equity invests in businesses operating in high growth markets or with disruptive business models which, with additional capital and expertise, can take advantage of the dynamics of an attractive business model and an expanding market.

Current portfolio companies include RS Connect (telematics), Fluent Money (fin-tech), Wavenet (unified communications) and Learnlight (ed-tech).

Contact details:

Midlands

Beech Tree Private Equity4th Floor Colmore Gate2-6 Colmore RowBirminghamB3 2QD

North West

Beech Tree Private EquitySuite 2 First Floor Building 2The ColonyAltrincham RoadWilmslowSK9 4LY

More information can be found at www.beechtreepe.com

Enquiries:

Please direct enquiries to:

Beech Tree Private Equity:

Paul Franks (paul.franks@beechtreepe.com or 07802 188775) or

Andy Marsh (andy.marsh@beechtreepe.com or 07810 751325)