Crescent has a generalist mandate to invest in manufacturing, tradable services and technology companies in Northern Ireland. We like to back experienced management teams, with good track records, who are prepared to commit their own capital to transactions and have a desire to push their own potential to the limit. Many of the people we have invested in are now highly respected business leaders in Northern Ireland.

We seek to play an active role in assisting the development of our portfolio companies and one of our executives will join your board as a non-executive director. The benefits this brings includes:

  • Strategic management input;
  • Financial advice;
  • Assistance with the selection, appointment and development of executives and senior staff;
  • Assistance in dealings with economic development agencies;
  • Corporate development;
  • Assistance in negotiating major contracts, acquisitions or disposals, etc.;
  • Assistance with further fund raising and refinancing arrangements; and
  • Corporate governance.

We invest between £450k and £1.2m initially, with up to £3m invested per company over all rounds. Crescent investments are in the form of equity and both majority and minority positions are considered. Returns are sought from capital appreciation rather than dividend yield.

Larger transactions and follow-on funding rounds are often undertaken in conjunction with other investors including other venture funds, as a result of syndicated deals led by Crescent.

We will aim to exit our investment within five to seven years, most likely as a trade sale of the entire company.

Many of our previous investments have made a significant impact on the economic landscape of Northern Ireland. As well as representing a successful return on investment in and of themselves, our portfolio companies often provide significant employment and spin out new businesses that contribute to the overall Business Eco System of Northern Ireland.

We are proud to include among our successes:

  • Andor Technology, was backed by Crescent in 1997 and went onto achieve a listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2004. It manufactures high end digital scientific cameras for research and OEM customers throughout the world. It was sold in January 2014 for £176m to Oxford Instruments plc.
  • Balcas is Ireland’s largest sawmilling and wood fibre processing business. Following an investment by Crescent in 1999, Balcas has progressed to become a leading timber processor in the British Isles, a renewable energy supplier and the largest manufacturers of wood fuel pellets.
  • UP Holdings, Fund I’s first investment failed to realise its potential in its original form as a manufacturer of PVC pipes and ducts. However, the business was restructured by the Crescent team and the former premises were renovated and rented out as industrial warehousing to third party tenants. The premises were sold in April 2006 to a property developer for a considerable premium to original cost and the proceeds have now been distributed to investors.
  • Lagan Technology
  • MailDistiller
  • Omiino
  • New York State Common Retirement Fund,
  • Invest Northern Ireland,
  • Investec Bank,
  • IKEA Group,
  • Northern Ireland Local Government Officers Superannuation Committee,
  • The European Investment Fund,
  • Queen’s University Belfast,
  • University of Ulster, and
  • A wide variety of public pension funds, insurance companies, private individuals and institutional investors from Ireland, the UK, Europe and the US have invested in the three funds we have raised since 1995.