FPE Capital announces the sale of its investment in leading global alcohol data and intelligence provider IWSR to Bowmark Capital

Sale marks a highly successful first exit from the firm’s second, spin-out, fund

FPE Capital LLP (‘FPE’), the specialist software and services growth investor, is pleased to announce the successful sale of IWSR, the leading B2B data and intelligence provider to the global drinks industry, to a buy-out backed by Bowmark Capital.    The terms of the transaction are not disclosed and the buy-out includes a re-investment by the IWSR management team.

IWSR has a highly international research reach and client base and during FPE’s investment has invested very significantly into new areas of research within the drinks market – such as e-commerce, no-and-low alcohol drinks and COVID impacts – alongside its long-established global volume database.   In addition, the business has made a material investment into the technology base of the business and in November 2020 it made the strategic acquisition of Wine Intelligence, which brought to the group an expanded product offering and the ability to expand consumer research and insight across all categories of the drinks industry.   In just under three years of FPE’s ownership the business increased revenues by 110% and increased EBITDA by 160% and the sale marks a highly successful first exit for FPE from its second, spin-out, fund which closed in 2017.   

Mark Meek, CEO at IWSR said:

“The last 3 years have been transformational for IWSR. We’ve taken a business with a great reputation and data-set stretching back more than 20-years and really invested behind the offering to clients and in our global coverage. FPE Capital has been a really active partner and a key element on that journey and I am excited about the opportunity to build on these foundations with the team at Bowmark”.   

David Barbour, Managing Partner at FPE commented:

“The sale of IWSR represents the first exit from our Fund II, and it has been fantastic to see the huge progress made by Mark and his excellent team at IWSR on the back of our investment into the business.  We would like to congratulate the team on their significant achievements in the past few years, when they have exceeded the growth targets we all collectively set.   We wish them and Bowmark all continued success over the coming years”.

FPE was advised by Proskauer Rose LLP (legal).  The management team at IWSR was advised by Gowling WLG (legal).      

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For further information, please contact:

For IWSR:
Mark Meek, CEO, IWSR +44 (0) 7850 435386

For FPE:  
David Barbour, Managing Partner, FPE Capital +44 (0) 7770 585174

Notes to Editors:

About IWSR

IWSR is the leading source of data and intelligence on the alcoholic beverage market. Its data is used by the major international wine, spirits, ready-to-drink, and beer companies, as well as financial and alcoholic beverage market suppliers.  In November 2020 it acquired Wine Intelligence, the wine consumer research and insights expert.  For more information about IWSR, please visit www.theiwsr.com

About FPE Capital 

FPE is a growth investor specialising in investing in enterprise software and services companies. FPE partners with ambitious UK and Irish companies to enable them to realise their potential. It is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. www.fpecapital.com

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