Investec provides £25m debt finance for BlueGem's Enotria buyout

Published: 04 July, 2012

Investec has provided a £25 million debt finance facility for private equity BlueGem's buyout of wine distributor Enotria.

As reported by Harpers, Enotria's former backer ISIS Equity partners sold its shares in the firm and BlueGem Capital has now become the main investor.

Enotria was founded in 1972 by Remo Nardone and acquired Wheeler Cellars in 2008 and Great Western Wine in 2010. Headquartered in West London, Enotria employs 181 staff and in 2011 generated over £100m in sales.

Enotria will be acquired by BlueGem alongside its management team. BlueGem is an independent London based private equity fund that invests in mid-market companies - it also owns department stores Liberty's.

Investec provided a blend of amortising and revolving debt, delivering funding for the MBO and group refinancing and providing a framework to support working capital, investment and acquisitions.

Tristan Nagler of Investec said: "We strongly support their [Enotria and BlueGem's] ambitious plans for growth and acquisition. Our financial support coupled with BlueGem's experience in the distribution sector and the passion and expertise of the Enotria management will provide a potent combination.

"Entrepreneurial management teams increasingly value the innovative combination of amortising and revolving debt structures to support their plans. We are strong supporters of entrepreneurs and believe that, in the short term, an increasing number of mid-market companies will require innovative funding structures. During the last 12 months we have completed a number of financings for mid-market companies in the £5- £50 million range."

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