Capricorn Acquire Significant Stake in RAW

Capricorn Capital Partners has led a group of investors to acquire a significant equity stake in RAW Capital Partners. As part of the transaction the company has also secured an initial multi-million pound investment commitment in the RAW Mortgage Fund and the Raw Sterling Cash Deposit Fund from insurance based clients advised by Capricorn.

Capricorn has its roots in Hollard Insurance, the largest privately-owned insurance group in South Africa. It focuses on private equity investments in the financial services sector including asset advisory businesses and also acts as an investment advisor.

A spokesman from Capricorn says: ‘Our initial interest in RAW was on behalf of our insurance clients as potential investors in the RAW Mortgage and Cash Funds. The Raw Mortgage Fund provides an especially attractive investment for insurance balance sheets, combining compelling risk-adjusted returns with capital efficiency.

‘Through our diligence process it became apparent that there was an opportunity to partner with RAW to build a meaningful and sustainable asset origination and lending platform, which offers an attractive value proposition for both investors and borrowers.

‘The RAW team combines deep domain expertise with highly capable operators. RAW’s investor-centric approach, track record and business building ambitions resonated strongly with us. Both RAW’s shareholders and Capricorn Capital Partners have successful track records in building fund management businesses and we are extremely excited about the potential of this new partnership. At the heart of it RAW is managing products we are proud to promote to our clients and wider networks.

‘We have secured multi-million pound commitments from our insurance clients, which should provide RAW with the opportunity to leverage its platform by satisfying the significant demand for its excellent product base.’

RAW CEO Richard Avery-Wright says, ‘Our team has worked tirelessly for over five years to produce innovative products and services for clients. We are absolutely delighted to be partnering with an investor group led by Capricorn. Like us, they have a vision for building a significant financial services business based here in Guernsey. We have an exciting future ahead.’