Home Grown Investment Series: Exit Strategy

Tuesday, 16th April 2024, 6.30pm 

Join us for the second instalment of our 2024 Investor Series, focusing on the critical aspects of company exit strategies.

The process of building a business and orchestrating a successful exit requires meticulous planning and execution. Whether it involves selling, merging, or transitioning leadership, a well-defined exit strategy is paramount for optimizing the value of your investment and facilitating a seamless transition. This panel event aims to equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary for developing and implementing a robust exit plan.

Hear from seasoned entrepreneurs and investors who have successfully navigated the exit process. Learn from their experiences, pitfalls, and success stories.

This investment series is in partnership with Frankie Smith, Founder of Frankie’s.

Moderator
Frankie Smith, Founder of Frankie’s

Frankie is an advocate for Women in Finance and passionate about encouraging more women to be confident about manging their personal financial affairs.

Her mission has seen her featured in FORBES, and she co-founded the Allbright Investment Club, launched the Home-Grown Investor Series and, more recently, the Frankie’s membership, where women can enjoy a nurturing and engaging environment to learn about finance and network in a way that inspires them to take action!

Speakers 

David Seaton, Director of Morphose Capital Partners and Ameroc ERW Ltd

Dave has enjoyed a successful commercial career spanning 40 years (so far) having started his career as an accountant for Schlumberger, the multinational oil & gas service provider, moving through the finance ranks during a 12-year career before moving to ArmorGroup, a publicly owned security group operating in 38 countries. He initially joined as CFO, lead their MBO three years later, lead their IPO fifteen months after that and ultimately was appointed CEO in 2006, finally leading the sale to G4S in early 2008. For the last fifteen years he has split his time between chairing his own support service group, leading an MBI and turnaround of a £130m revenue service company, chairing several start ups and leading Morphose’s corporate finance function.

Dave has firsthand experience managing and chairing: start ups, MBOs, an MBI, a main LSE IPO and has led on over thirty acquisitions and a multitude of finance raises of varying sizes.

Ben Carter, Investment Manager at DeepBridge Capital

Ben heads the Life Sciences team at Deepbridge. Prior to this role, Ben had been the managing director of Touchpoint Service and commercial director of Telmenow the healthcare equipment focused e-commerce platform. Ben has also been chief commercial officer at Now Healthcare Group, a leading telemedicine provider with its Dr Now app. With a BA (Hons) in Management from the University of Manchester, Ben’s other corporate experience includes being commercial director at Possum, market leaders in the provision, installation and support of many types of electronic assistive technology.

Jason Drummond, Repeat Founder & CEO

Jason is a distinguished entrepreneur with a history of founding and growing 12 Internet and tech businesses in the past 20 years, leading 11 to IPOs on European and US stock exchanges. He notably founded Gaming Corporation plc, acquiring Gambling.com for $20M, and led Casino.co.uk to become the UK’s largest casino portal before its sale for £3.62M. Drummond established FairFX plc (now Equals Group plc), a financial services challenger with over 1 million customers and £5.7 billion in transactional values in 2021. He pioneered in the tech space with Virtual Internet plc, the first web hosting company to list on a primary European market, and co-founded RegistryPro, introducing the .pro domain extension.

Drummond’s ventures have significantly impacted the tech, gaming, and financial sectors, demonstrating a keen ability to identify and capitalize on emerging market trends.

Rufus Pearl, Founder & CEO of planD

20 years corporate finance experience including smaller company fund raise and flotations in sectors ranging from media to mining and film to fintech. Rufus was founder & CEO of a multi-award-winning lifestyle accessories business with global sales, and the founder of Pearl Corporate Finance, providing advisory services to investment trusts that grew to c.$75m AUM via a ‘swaps methodology’ that became the foundation idea for planD​.

Alexandra Nelson, Corporate Partner at Birketts LLP
Alexandra qualified as a Solicitor in October 2005 and joined Birketts in September 2016. She is a Partner in our Corporate Team in the Ipswich office. She has gained excellent corporate and commercial experience having previously worked for a top US law firm and advises on a full range of legal matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, group restructurings, general company law issues, and commercial contracts.

Alexandra has particular experience working with manufacturers and distributors of highly engineered products used in aerospace and defence applications and advises on export control and sanctions compliance. She also gained valuable industry experience following a year spent working in-house as sole counsel for a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listed fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company and working as interim counsel for a pharmaceutical company and a satellite communication business. Alexandra has managed and worked with teams across the globe, including the US, the EU, the Middle East and Asia. Her clients include international businesses, private companies and start-ups.

Spaces are complimentary and members may register one guest. Head to the members’ portal to RSVP now. Non-members may register here instead.