Private equity activity in the first half of the year was subdued as the economic environment remained uncertain on the back of a challenging 2022. However, as fears of a deep recession and further market volatility reduced, and the forecasted trajectory of interest rates became clearer, deal activity accelerated in the latter half of 2023.
Whilst it remains a market to be cautious in opportunities do exist, helped by a noticeable pricing recalibration in the past year that has allowed VCT managers to secure keener entry valuations for new assets. In addition, the dynamic and disruptive smaller businesses that the Maven VCTs back are proving that they can be more agile than their larger counterparts, where their ability to adapt and innovate as market conditions change, or pivot quickly to position their product or service when trends evolve, means that they aren’t as reliant on GDP growth to drive their own expansion.
In 2023 Maven maintained its strong investment rate, completing eight new VCT investments. We remain committed to adding further scale to each of our VCTs and increasing absolute net asset value by growing the highly diversified portfolios in a number of carefully selected assets.
With more than 25 investment and portfolio executives involved in sourcing, executing and managing VCT investments from a network of 10 offices, this ensures that we have an established presence across the key UK finance territories to maintain a healthy deal pipeline despite UK economic activity remaining subdued.
Let’s take a closer look at businesses that were backed by the Maven VCTs in 2023.