Sovereign Capital expands investment team with appointment of Neil Cox

Sovereign Capital ("Sovereign"), the UK private equity buy-and-build specialist, today announces the appointment of Neil Cox as an Assistant Director, bringing Sovereign's investment team to 17.

Neil joins from NM Rothschild where he spent 6 years in their Investment Banking and Mezzanine Finance teams.  At Rothschild Neil invested in more than 20 mezzanine transactions including Cardsave, Survitec, British Salt, Tunstall, Aviagen, Capital Safety, Worldwide Flight Services and Minimax.  He started his career at ICI, spending eight years managing a range of manufacturing and outsourcing projects.  An Engineering graduate, Neil holds a first class degree from Cambridge University and an MBA with Distinction from The Manchester Business School.

This is the third investment team appointment at Sovereign since the beginning of the year, with Neil's appointment closely following that of Tim Whittard in September.  Neil cites Sovereign's focus on buy & build, deep sector knowledge and strong track record in addition to its innovative approach to investment origination as key elements that attracted him to the lower-mid market firm.

Commenting on the appointment, Andrew Hayden, Managing Partner, Sovereign Capital, said:

"We are delighted to be expanding the team with high calibre recruits like Neil. He brings a strong transactional capability to the team and has industry expertise across a range of sectors. Our investment team's expansion reflects the pace of growth in our portfolio and the contribution we are making to the delivery of each company's buy & build strategy."

Deal momentum at Sovereign remains strong, with three acquisitions and two exits completed in the last five weeks. Recent deals include the acquisition of training provider Orient Gold by portfolio company STL and acquisition of specialist care provider Positive Lifestyles by Alkare. In addition Sovereign has seen two exits, of CVS Group and Complete Care Group, returning 11.9x and 5.7x money invested respectively.

There continues to be a strong pipeline of investment and exit opportunities and Sovereign will continue to look for good quality recruits as the business expands.