This investment is Aliter’s first in the UK corporate training sector and establishes its fourth platform
Aliter Capital I LP (“Aliter”), the specialist investor focused on small to mid-size UK support services businesses, has announced the completion of its first investment in the UK corporate training sector through the acquisition of Bolt Learning Limited (“Bolt”).
Glasgow-headquartered Bolt, founded in 2013 by Tamlin Roberts, is a leading Learning Management System (“LMS”) and online training solutions provider that offers a range of services, including bespoke elearning content creation through its inhouse ‘content editor’. Bolt has a blue-chip customer base and, although sector agnostic, a particularly strong track record in the retail, food wholesale and professional association sectors.
Investment in Bolt also includes the acquisition of Mercurytide Limited, a closely associated IT and technology solutions provider, to give additional resource and ongoing development support to the platform.
Aliter will leverage its industrial expertise and broad networks to drive growth both organically and through complementary acquisitions. Aliter is focused on developing a technology-led group of corporate training businesses and will be actively looking to acquire additional growing businesses as part of that strategy.
Tamlin Roberts, CEO of Bolt commented: “The decision to have Aliter as our investment partner was an obvious choice. From the beginning, the team have been working closely with me to further develop our strategy and support new business opportunities. Aliter have an extensive network and I strongly believe that their expertise will help us take Bolt to the next stage of development.”
Billy Allan, Managing Partner of Aliter commented: “We are excited to be entering the corporate training sector and the investment in Bolt means that a best-in-class technology platform will be at the centre of our strategy. We are confident that with our support, Tamlin and the Bolt team will continue to gain market share and deliver exceptional growth.”
Aliter Capital announced the close of its specialist support services fund (Aliter Capital I, LP) in February 2017. Founded by a group of seasoned support services entrepreneurs and investors – Billy Allan, Greig Brown, Andy Galloway and Andrew Busby – it is one of the first funds of its kind and focuses on small and mid-sized businesses in the UK support services sector, a market valued at over £300 billion. Its approach differs from traditional private equity models by making only a limited number of selective portfolio investments to deliver dedicated hands-on support. Aliter has now closed a total of 12 transactions across four platforms since the beginning of 2017.