A rush to invest in Financial Services

Morgan Stanley’s Private Equity fund of funds has invested £45m in Aldermore alongside Anacap Financial Partners, which bought the company in May 2009, making Morgan Stanley a ‘meaningful’ minority holder in Aldermore.

The investment brings the total amount of capital injected into Aldermore to around £80m. It further signifies the growing desire of buyout investors for acquisitions in the troubled UK financial services industry. This deal makes Aldermore one of the UK’s best capitalised lenders, with a capital one ratio of around 40%.

The recapitalised balance sheet will provide Aldermore with opportunity to expand.

With the backing of the financial services specialists at Anacap we fully expect the business to take advantage of opportunities to increase lending to selected small and medium sized businesses, filling a little of the gap left in the UK market by the big banks, who seem to be preoccupied with repairing their own balance sheets rather than extending a hand to assist the SME sector in these troubled times.

This is a smart move by Anacap and one that will undoubtedly create a valuable asset in their growing portfolio of UK financial services businesses.