| Company type | UK LLP |
|---|---|
| Industry | Private Equity |
| Predecessor | Foreign & Colonial Ventures Ltd. |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Headquarters | London, W1 United Kingdom |
Key people | Rod Richards, Markus Golser, Andy Gray |
| Products | Investments, private equity funds |
| Total assets | £1.2 billion |
| Website | www.graphitecapital.com |
Graphite Capital is a private equity firm focused on mid-market leveraged buyout investments, primarily in the UK. The group manages around £1.2 billion for institutional investors, with the most recent fund raising over £500 million in 2018.[1] Since 1991, the firm has backed almost 100 management teams through various investments.
The firm has managed private equity funds since 1981 and in 2001 became fully independent. The firm has a single office in Air Street in London's West End. The firm's Chairman is Rod Richards, who joined in 1986, and its Managing Partners are Andy Gray and Markus Golser, who joined in 1992 and 1997 respectively.
Graphite Capital was originally part of F&C Asset Management and was known as Foreign & Colonial Ventures Ltd. The firm remained a subsidiary of F&C Asset Management until 2001, when the Graphite team completed a management buyout.[2][3][4]
The first fund to be managed by Graphite Capital was F&C Enterprise Trust, a UK listed vehicle, which it renamed Graphite Enterprise Trust when the management buyout took place in 2001. The fund became ICG Enterprise Trust when the management contract was transferred to Intermediate Capital Group in 2016.[5]
The firm's ninth and most recent fund of £470 million raised in 2018[6][7] has backed the following companies, including:
The firm's eighth fund has backed the following companies including:
Graphite's seventh fund, which was raised in 2007[23] and invested until 2013, backed companies including:
Graphite's current portfolio also includes:
Earlier investments include Corbin & King - the operator of signature restaurants in London,[30] the Groucho Club which was sold in July 2015,[31] Dominion Oil & Gas,[32] NES Group,[33] Wagamama[34] and Park Holidays.[35]
In August 2022, Graphite sold YSC Consulting, a provider of leadership consulting and management assessment, acquired from Livingbridge in 2017,[36] to Accenture.[37][38] In June 2022, the firm sold Random42, a producer of digital medical animation,[39] to The Lockwood Group, a US medical communications company.[40] In July 2021, the firm sold U-POL, a manufacturer and distributor of fillers, coatings and aerosols,[41] to US firm Axalta Coating Systems.[42]
