Miss Group

In 2018, we invested £6.4m into Miss Group, a Manchester-based digital solutions business. The following year, we provided a further £13m in funding, to support the company’s ambitious growth plans.

Alongside financial backing, we introduced Miss Group to its non-executive chair, Phil Male. Phil was chair of BGF-backed cloud service provider Virtual1, and previously chair of web hosting business UK2 Group and Chief Strategy Officer at Cable & Wireless Worldwide. We also helped Miss Group to a recruit a new Financial Director, to support its planned exit strategy.

Our initial investment supported Miss Group’s organic growth, as well as a series of strategic acquisitions in new and existing markets. Follow-on funding then enabled Miss Group to carry out further acquisitions of web hosting companies in Europe. We also provided M&A guidance, and connected the management team with HSBC, which led to Miss Group receiving additional funding for its buy-and-build strategy.

In total, during our investment period, Miss Group completed seven acquisitions across Scandinavia, Spain and the US. Revenues increased from £8m to £25m in this time, while EBITDA grew more than four times, from £2.5m to £11m. Miss Group was able to outpace its competitors in all target markets due to the company’s strong balance sheet and ability to move quickly.

In February 2020, Miss Group was acquired by Perwyn, delivering an exceptional return for all shareholders and an internal rate of return (IRR) for BGF of more than 100%.