Company overview: The initial investment comprised of the backing of Dartmouth Partners, a leading recruitment business in sectors including corporate finance, private equity, wealth management and legal, with offices in London, Paris, and Frankfurt. Since the original investment, Dartmouth has made one acquisition and the new group has since been rebranded as Kernel Global.
Our initial investment: The CEO was looking to sell a minority stake to de-risk but also incentivise existing staff and attract new talent and support from an investor to help him achieve his goals – specifically completing acquisitions and an eventual IPO. Whilst backing a very capable CEO, who had founded the business and grown it year-on-year, we needed to develop a larger senior team to help build a sustainable business. Since our investment, a Chairman and CFO have joined the business, as well as other key strategic hires.
Building value: In September 2019, we assisted Dartmouth to complete its first ever acquisition of Pure Search, giving the Group a strong presence in Tax and expanding its footprint into Asia and the US. Following this acquisition, the new Group was renamed Kernel Global. Literacy has also helped Kernel Global meet their business objectives, through introductions to senior individuals at relevant financial services organisations.
Partial exit: A transaction was announced in March 2023, where Literacy sold the majority of its stake to allow management and employees to realise some of their investment and to bring onboard a new investor. Literacy announced a total investment return of 9.8x, giving an indication of Kernel Global's strong performance since its investment. Literacy remains an enthusiastic shareholder in the Group
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Website link: www.kernel-global.com
Completion: June 2018