Ward Hadaway advises on £1.6m investment deal
25th October, 2013
The Manchester office of Top 100 law firm Ward Hadaway has advised on a £1.625m investment which will help create jobs at an innovative manufacturer.
Melanie Yeomans, Corporate Partner, led the firm’s team advising Enterprise Ventures on its investment in Liverpool-based ChargePoint Technology (Holdings) Limited. Melanie was assisted by Harriet Sutherland, a solicitor in the Corporate Finance team.
The deal, which will enable ChargePoint to recruit additional skilled staff and develop new high tech products for export, comprised a £900,000 investment by The North West Fund for Mezzanine, which is managed by Enterprise Ventures, and £725,000 from the Coalfields Funds.
Melanie said: “This was a fantastic, local transaction to be involved in and we are extremely proud at Ward Hadaway to have been appointed to advise the Mezzanine Fund on its inaugural investment.
“ChargePoint already has a substantial following in the pharmaceutical sector and hopefully this investment will provide further impetus to its growth plans.”
ChargePoint supplies precision containment valves to some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and chemicals businesses including GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Henkel, DuPont, INEOS, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly and Sanofi Aventis.
ChargePoint’s containment valves – precision split butterfly valves – provide an accurate and safe means of transferring powders from one vessel to another during the production process. By minimising dust emissions, they are specified to prevent cross-contamination and protect operators from exposure to potent substances.
Originally developed in 1996 in conjunction with GlaxoSmithKline, ChargePoint valves are now used by almost every major pharmaceutical manufacturer globally and increasingly in other industries such as chemical, bio-pharmaceutical, food manufacture and consumer goods.
Chris Eccles, Managing Director, said: “ChargePoint sets the standard for containment valve technology within the pharmaceutical industry and our products are specified around the world.
“We have identified opportunities to increase sales in emerging markets, in particular the Far East, and to expand further into other sectors, including bio-pharmaceutical and food manufacture.
“This investment will allow us to pursue our growth plans, which includes the creation of over 15 skilled jobs in the next three years on Merseyside.”
The North West Fund for Mezzanine, launched earlier this year, provides investment of £750,000 to £2m for established businesses seeking finance for growth.
It is part of the £155m North West Fund, which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the European Investment Bank.
Stewart McCombe, of Enterprise Ventures, which manages The North West Fund for Mezzanine, said: “The North West Fund for Mezzanine is ideal for successful companies like ChargePoint, which have strong growth potential but may struggle to access investment in the current climate.
“This investment will allow ChargePoint to develop new products to take advantage of opportunities in emerging markets, and increase both sales and after-sales revenue by expanding its technical and support network.”
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