Arrowpoint Advisory secures investment for the UK's leading business database owner, 118 Group, from Pricoa Capital Group

Arrowpoint Advisory's TMT and Debt Advisory teams have advised leading business database owner, 118 Group on securing investment from Pricoa Capital Group, the private debt and risk capital investment arm of PGIM, Inc., global investment management business of Prudential Financial, Inc.

118 Group is the owner of the UK's only business database of its kind, supplying information under license to credit reference agencies, mapping companies and every major search engine. The Company also operates a B2B marketing data services division, trading as Market Location

The Company was established in 2008 by entrepreneurs Paul Spinks and Patrick Bradshaw, who will maintain significant stakes in the Company. The transaction provides material shareholder liquidity and enables greater ownership of the Company to be in the hands of the extended management team who will continue to drive the business forward.

Patrick Bradshaw, co-founder and joint-CEO of 118 Group, said: “Early on we spotted the potential for licensing good quality business data, underpinned by a commitment to accuracy, and that has propelled the Company into the success it is today. We have now become a critical part of the infrastructure that underpins business search on the internet. We are delighted to have received investment from a blue-chip organisation such as Pricoa and we are excited to be partnering with them.”

“Paul and I would like to thank Arrowpoint Advisory for their hands-on advice and support throughout the process. Through their expertise, sound judgement, experience and commitment, they added real value across every aspect of the deal from start to finish. We simply couldn’t have done this without them and for that we are very grateful.”

Richard Fetterman, Managing Director at Arrowpoint Advisory, added: “118 Group is a special business with a leading market position, strong financial fundamentals and exciting growth prospects. We believe that Pricoa is the ideal fit, both culturally and in terms of facilitating the next phase of growth and we are confident that, with Pricoa's support, Paul, Patrick and the team will go on to achieve great things.”

Neil Smith, Managing Director, Debt Advisory at Arrowpoint Advisory added: “118 Group is a very attractive business and we were able to secure an excellent investment package to meet all stakeholders’ objectives.”

This is yet another example of Arrowpoint Advisory's expertise in the information services space and follows the £340m sale of Autodata in January 2017.

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