Davis, California
AgraQuest is a bio-technology company which develops and manufactures a line of natural pest management products for agricultural and horticultural markets. With the successful commercialisation of its flagship fungicide, Serenade, AgraQuest has become the leading pure player in the bio-pesticide market with effective and commercially viable solutions. Loudwater led a $20m mezzanine round, alongside existing investors including inter alia TPG (Texas Pacific Group) Ventures, Swiss Re and Emerald Technologies.
AgraQuest achieved strong revenue growth across all of its core markets in 2008 and achieved a number of key milestones. After gaining regulatory approval in the US in December, the company launched its first bio-insecticide product, Requiem, to add an important new dimension to the product range. On the 2nd April 2009, AgraQuest announced a supply and distribution agreement with BASF, the world’s leading chemical company. This covers the Serenade product in important territories and applications and should significantly accelerate the global growth of this product. This agreement underscores the high level of interest that AgraQuest is getting from the “Big Ag” firms with existing products and new applications such as seed treatment, post-harvest and food safety.
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Cambridge, UK
Antenova is a Cambridge based developer and supplier of antenna components for mobile handsets, portable devices and laptop computers. Antenova has developed a range of patented IP which enables it to develop antennae and radio modules that allow multiple signals (e.g. 3G, GPRS, GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi) to be combined in very small components whilst maintaining high performance. Recent product wins from Tier 1 device makers build on Antenova’s solid reputation within the industry.
In October 2008 the Company participated in a follow-on investment alongside existing investors to accelerate the growth and expansion of Antenova’s leading range of RadioNova RF antenna modules. The company is taking a very conservative view of the market in 2009 but expects a significant level of support from its long-term contracts.
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London, UK
City Financial is a long established London based fund management firm that was acquired in January 2006 by an experienced team who had managed Invesco UK. Since this time the company has grown its managed funds through both acquisitive and organic means. The company is responsible for highly re¬garded Gilt, Global Bond, and Multi-Manager absolute return funds, which boast some of the strongest perform¬ance figures in the industry.
In 2008 the funds performed well against a backdrop of falling equity markets. The company enters 2009 with a robust business model and is looking to take advantage of acquisition opportunities presented by the fall in valuations of a number of investment management firms. Management expect to complete at least one major transaction in 2009.
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Hayward, California
Glimmerglass designs and supplies optical switches for fibre optic networks and systems using 3D MEMs technology and is the leader in this market. Customers include telecom carriers, data centres, and government agencies.
The company has achieved very substantial revenue growth in 2008 and is now profitable (pre-accrued loan note interest). Growth in 2009 is expected to be strong, with a substantial part of revenues underpinned by government contracts in the US and Europe. The market for optical switches is forecast to grow strongly as broadband networks are built out and the capacity of corporate/government data networks is increased. Whilst the current economic situation has reduced the immediate rate of growth, the market is likely to be a big beneficiary of government stimulus programmes in the US and possibly elsewhere.
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Guernsey
Low Carbon Accelerator (“LCA”) is an AIM listed Guernsey based investment fund. LCA invests in businesses whose products or services lead to net reductions in greenhouse gas emissions such as building products, green fuels, energy generation and energy efficiency. Loudwater provided seed funding to LCA, allowing it to make five investments prior to admission to trading on AIM in October 2006 when it raised £45m.
LCA has invested a total of £30m in a portfolio of 15 companies. The management team has undertaken a strategic review of the low carbon sector and concluded that time horizons to exits will be longer than previously anticipated. LCA has therefore determined to conserve cash reserves for selective follow-on investments in the existing portfolio and to put on hold new investment activity until at least one successful realisation has been achieved. The latest NAV published was for 30th November 2008 and was 76.8p. As at the 31st December 2008 the company was trading at a discount of 64% to the company’s NAV.
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Chatsworth, California
Pentadyne manufactures highly energy efficient flywheels for UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) and power recycling applications. Unlike other steel-based flywheels, Pentadyne flywheels are made of carbon fibre and are magnetically levitated. As an environmentally sound alternative to lead-acid batteries, and the only viable technology for fast recycling applications, Pentadyne flywheels are sold to the leading UPS system manufacturers for many industrial applications including data centres, healthcare, transportation and government/military.
Pentadyne is commencing a development programme for a large US transit system. This could lead to the establishment of a multi-billion dollar market from the 150 significant electric transit systems worldwide, including, as an example, the London Underground.
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London, UK
Somethin’ Else is a cross-platform media production company and the largest independent radio producer in the UK with programmes such as Jazz on 3 and The Essential Mix (BBC Radio 1). The company also produces interactive entertainment (including web media, games and mobile content) and manages the likes of Jeremy Kyle and JK & Joel through its talent management agency. Over the years the company has won many awards including Bafta, Sony Radio Academy and GSM Association.
In the face of a medium-term deterioration in the “ad spend” driven commercial radio and interactive divisions, the company has consolidated a number of operations and focused growing its core BBC business. The company has made significant progress towards the production of higher end documentaries and has recently won an important contract with Radio 4 to produce a flagship entertainment programme.
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London, UK
Engine is one of the fastest growing advertising and communications groups in the UK. The company is headed up by WCRS co-founder Peter Scott, who formed the Engine group after the management buyout of WCRS from HAVAS in April 2004. The group is comprised of thirteen partner companies offering services including advertising agency, PR, brand consultancy, direct marketing and digital consultancy to a host of blue chip clients including Abbey, BMW, BSkyB and GlaxoSmithKline.
Engine grew strongly in 2008 and has been able to build successfully market share at a time when other companies have started to struggle. Several new partner companies were brought into the group at the start of this year and the group continues to expand the breadth of its marketing communications platform – a client-led strategy that should provide the company with great resilience during an economic downtrend. The company has had a strong start to 2009 with some major new projects wins in both the private and public sectors.
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Massachusetts, USA
Top Layer is a leading developer of network security products and has established a strong position at the top end of the Intrusion Prevention Solution (IPS) market. Its products prevent IT systems and web sites of large organisations (commercial, government, healthcare and educational) from malicious content and rate based (e.g. flooding) attacks.
Top Layer achieved strong growth for its IPS products throughout 2008 and has had a great start to 2009. The company’s new sales team has increased both the number and size of new deals with examples of recent customer wins including a large healthcare operator, a train operator, several universities and gambling web sites. Top Layer has built a client base of around 1,700 customers in 22 countries. The company continues to invest in its technologies in order to provide protection at ever increasing data rates.
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