Beechbrook Capital hits hard cap at final close of Fund II, makes two new investments and appoints new finance and operations director

16th July 2014 – Beechbrook Capital, the specialist direct lender, has held a final close on Beechbrook Mezzanine II at €151 million, with a further six investors joining the fund taking the total to 14. The hard cap of €150 million was slightly exceeded with the agreement of the existing investors.

Beechbrook has also completed two new investments, and strengthened its management team with the appointment of a new finance and operations director, Alan Chu.

The two new investments from Beechbrook Mezzanine II include a first in Germany. They mark the sixth and seventh made from this fund which is now one-third invested. The new investments are:

• A unitranche loan to support the buy-out of Douteil Smart Repair by Constellation Capital AG – Beechbrook’s first investment in Germany. The company is one of the country’s leading providers of spot repair services for cars damaged by hail, parking and car glass accidents.  Douteil Smart Repair uses a paint-less dent removal technique – a cost efficient alternative to traditional repair methods.
• A mezzanine loan and equity finance to support the growth plans of Stan Chem, a processor and distributor of chemicals, organic supplements and natural ingredients.  Beechbrook worked alongside the existing shareholders, Grove Industries Limited and management.  Stan Chem, which is headquartered in the south of England, is planning to expand its production capacity and product range over the next few years.

Beechbrook Capital has appointed Alan Chu as its new finance and operations director effective from 1 September 2014.  Alan joins from Graphite Capital, where he was financial controller of the limited partnership funds.  Previously Alan worked in audit at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he qualified as a chartered accountant.

Nick Fenn, who founded Beechbrook Capital with Paul Shea, said: “Alan’s appointment strengthens our management team as Beechbrook passes an important milestone with the final closing of our second fund and the completion of two more investments including our first in Germany. We look forward to working with him during the next phase of the firm’s development.