Svella Plc Successfully Exits Its Investment In Leonard Curtis

Svella Plc is pleased to confirm the successful divestment of its interest in Leonard Curtis Group, one of the UK’s largest independent providers of corporate restructuring and insolvency services, following its acquisition by specialist financial services investor Pollen Street Capital.

The transaction delivers a 3.2x gross return for Svella, representing a highly profitable exit since its investment alongside Arete Capital Partners in 2021.

Svella and Arete backed Leonard Curtis in the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic to support an ambitious management team with a defined growth strategy focused on scaling operations and diversifying into new service capabilities.

During Svella’s period of investment, Leonard Curtis achieved substantial growth, with revenues doubling to £45 million, headcount rising to 330 employees and the UK office network expanding to 30 locations – all generating significant profit and value growth.

Its service offerings were enhanced to include performance advisory, specialist offshore restructuring and commercial finance solutions. Growth was driven by a combination of organic expansion and four strategic acquisitions, which strengthened both revenues and service capabilities.

Ben Whawell, CEO of Svella Plc, said: “Our investment in Leonard Curtis has been both operationally and financially successful. Svella’s portfolio model, driven by operational improvement, an unwavering focus on financial performance, hands-on investment and proactive management, has helped generate substantial shareholder return.

“Together with Arete, we are proud to have played a part in helping Leonard Curtis deliver on its growth strategy and in its propulsion to market-leading status. We wish the business and its new owners a successful future together.

“Personally, I have enjoyed working with the very impressive management team at Leonard Curtis and I am proud of the success we have been able to deliver together.”

Leonard Curtis senior leadership team: CEO Dan Booth, COO David Brown and CFO Paul Birks.

Dan Booth, CEO of Leonard Curtis, said: “We have set our sights on building a business that is sustainable for many years to come and to represent something that we can be proud to be a part of. We are grateful to the team at Arete and Svella for their invaluable support and strategic guidance over the past few years, which has been instrumental in getting us to this stage.”

KPMG acted as lead advisor on the transaction with BDO (Financial VDD) and Graph Strategy (Commercial VDD) also providing support. Leonard Curtis shareholders were advised by Hill Dickinson (legals) and PWC (tax).