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London, 03 August 2020: Foresight Group (“Foresight”), a leading independent infrastructure and private equity investment manager, and Williams Advanced Engineering (“WAE”) are pleased to announce a £500,000 follow-on investment from Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund into Salvalco (“the Company”), to support the development of aerosol valves that use ecologically sustainable propellants. Overall, the Fund has now invested £3.2 million into Salvalco, following the original investment in April 2018.
The Company has recently secured an investment from Beiersdorf, a leading provider of innovative, high quality skincare products, including brands such as NIVEA, Eucerin and La Prairie.
Founded in 2013, Salvalco develops innovative valve systems, called Eco-Valve, based on prior research by the Spray Research Group at Salford University. The Eco-Valve technology allows eco-friendly inert gases such as nitrogen or simple fresh air to be used as propellants in aerosol sprays, thus enabling a more sustainable and safer alternative to conventional aerosol propellants.
Salvalco has subsequently developed a family of valves using this technology to pressurise the can without compromising user experience.
Commenting on the investment, John Holden, Director at Foresight, said: “Salvalco has demonstrated real progress in developing a truly eco-friendly and revolutionary approach to the problem of the polluting gases in traditional propellants.”
Matthew Burke, Head of Technology Ventures, Williams Advanced Engineering, added: “Salvalco’s Eco-Valve technology has the potential to revolutionise the aerosol industry, as indicated by Beiersdorf’s recent investment in the business. We are excited to continue our support for Salvalco both with this follow-on investment and engagement with Williams Advanced Engineering.”
Paul Martin, Chairman of Salvalco, added: “We are delighted to continue to receive the support of both Foresight and Williams Advanced Engineering, which has enabled Salvalco to develop and commercialise a range of valves that will be truly game-changing in reducing the environmental impact and safety issues of the aerosol industry.”
ENDS
For more information contact:
Ben Thompson, Foresight Group: bthompson@foresightgroup.eu / +44 (0)20 3667 8155
Notes to Editors
About Foresight Group (“Foresight”)
Foresight is a leading independent infrastructure and private equity investment manager which has been managing investment funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients for more than 35 years.
Foresight has £6.5 billion* of Assets Under Management across a number of funds, including Listed Vehicles, Limited Partnerships, Enterprise Investment Schemes (EISs), Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and Inheritance Tax Solutions using Business Relief (BR).
Foresight’s Private Equity Team of 30 investment professionals manages over £600 million, which it invests in UK SMEs on behalf of nine funds. The Private Equity Team is one of a small number of professional private equity managers focused on initial equity investments of up to £5 million, across a range of sectors and throughout the UK.
Foresight was named ‘Fund Manager of the Year’ at the PLC Awards 2018, ‘Generalist VCT of the Year’ at the Investment Week Tax Efficiency Awards 2018/19 and was a finalist in the 2018 Unquote British Private Equity Awards as Venture and Growth Capital House of the Year.
Foresight has its Head Office in London with regional UK offices in Cambridge, Manchester, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Leicester, Edinburgh and Guernsey and international offices in Sydney, Rome, Madrid, Luxembourg and Seoul.
*Following completion of the recent announcement of Foresight Group’s acquisition of Pensions Infrastructure Platform (PiP), total AUM will increase to £6.5bn
About Williams Advanced Engineering (“WAE”)
Williams Advanced Engineering Limited operates a technology and engineering services business.
In 2010, Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited began diversifying its operations, leading to the establishment of the Williams Advanced Engineering division, which became Williams Advanced Engineering Limited.
Combining cutting edge technology and the industry’s best engineers with precision and speed to market derived from four decades of success in the ultra-competitive environment of Formula One, Williams Advanced Engineering provides world class technical innovation, engineering, testing, manufacturing and operational consultancy services to the automotive, motorsport, aerospace, defence, health and energy sectors. Working in close collaboration with its customers, Williams Advanced Engineering helps meet the sustainability challenges of the 21st century and improve performance, with its expertise in aerodynamics and thermodynamics, electrification, advanced lightweight materials, simulation and vehicle integration.
In December 2019, Williams Grand Prix Engineering agreed to the sale of a majority equity stake in Williams Advanced Engineering to EMK Capital, with Williams retaining a significant minority stake in the business. Williams Advanced Engineering has grown from an embryonic business in 2010 to a company employing 350 people engaged in many innovative and transformative technical areas for a growing list of clients. The investment by EMK represented a natural next step in the evolution of the company, unlocking the potential for further growth.
The company was honoured with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation 2018.
For more information see www.wae.com, follow on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
