Notice Information
Notice Title
Procurement of Fund Management Services for North East Mezzanine and Loan Fund
Notice Description
The North East Fund seeks to appoint a professional, FCA authorised fund management organisation to deliver an SME investment fund which will make predominantly debt-based investments in revenue-generating SMEs based in the North East of England. The fund will address the persistent market gap in the provision of relatively small amounts of growth finance for SMEs in the North East of England, including unsecured loans and mezzanine / quasi-equity investment. In so doing, it will help to unlock regional growth, build confidence in the SME business base and ensure the region is a great place to start-up and scale-up a business. The Fund has the working title of "Later Stage / Mezzanine Fund" but its final name will be agreed with the appointed fund manager. TNEFL expects to make an initial commitment of investment capital to the Fund of PS35m, which will be invested over an Initial Investment Period of c.5 years - equating to an average annual investment by the Fund of PS7m during its first five years of operation. This quantum of investment, and the Fund's investment policy is consistent with and will address the funding gaps identified by a market evaluation exercise which was undertaken during the first half of 2024. In a significant development compared to previous regional investment funds, the profile of this Fund has been developed with a view to facilitating a more 'patient capital' approach to investment - by making provision for the initial 5 year investment period to be followed by further periods of new (and follow-on) investments which can potentially extend to a further 10 years. This period of up to 15 years in which the Fund can make both new and portfolio investments will be followed by a Realisation Period of up to 10 years, giving a potential contract duration of 25 years in total. This will enable the manager to provide support over a longer period than previous funds, which should be beneficial for the Fund's investee companies and should also help to maximise the financial returns to the Fund, particularly in relation to mezzanine or quasi-equity investments as it will allow for a longer holding period of share options or warrants, which should give a greater prospect of achieving additional upside liquidity from those instruments. Although the fund is required to be deployed predominantly via amortizing debt instruments (which must comprise 80% of the Fund's investment by value), it also has the scope to take equity positions where appropriate in companies with high growth potential and thereby to target a good number of potential high-cash-multiple / equity returns. The Fund is also required to complete a number of smaller loans, of an average value of PS70k. This will enable the Fund to help those SMEs which are seeking to achieve more modest organic growth and are not suited to equity investment but which require a loan (perhaps with a short capital repayment holiday) to help them take-on new contracts and bridge the gap between delivering them and receiving payment from new customers. The Fund's returns, and potentially other sources of capital which may be available to TNEFL (for example, from the regional legacy funds overseen by NEA2F) will be used to facilitate the extension of the Fund's investment activity after the initial investment capital commitment of PS35m is fully invested.
Lot Information
Lot 1
Please see Section II.1.4 above for a summary of the contract and the Information Memorandum, which can be downloaded from The North East Fund's website, for details. The procurement process will be conducted in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) using the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation as detailed in Regulation 29 of those Regulations. The purpose of this procurement is to procure the services of an FCA regulated fund manager. As outlined in Section II.1.4 above, the contract is expected to have an initial duration of 10 years and can be extended by up to a further 15 years, to 25 years in total. Please note that the contract value stated in this Contract Notice is an estimate based on assumptions regarding: the fund management fees tendered; the overall quantum of capital which will be committed to the fund; the duration of the contract and the profile of exits from and impairments to portfolio companies. As such, the ultimate fees paid under the contract could be lower or higher than the estimated contract value stated in this Contract Notice.
Renewal: The contract can potentially last for 25 years, based on its being extended during its term, which will initially be for 10 years but - subject to performance, market demand and availability of capital - is expected to be extended by at least 10 years, on the basis set out in the Information Memorandum and draft contract documents.
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-04b046
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/034209-2024
- Current Stage
- Tender
- All Stages
- Tender
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- Tender Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Selective
- Procurement Method Details
- Competitive procedure with negotiation
- Tender Suitability
- Not specified
- Awardee Scale
- Not specified
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
66 - Financial and insurance services
-
- CPV Codes
66100000 - Banking and investment services
66122000 - Corporate finance and venture capital services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- £16,700,000 £10M-£100M
- Lots Value
- £16,700,000 £10M-£100M
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- Not specified
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 22 Oct 20241 years ago
- Submission Deadline
- 22 Nov 2024Expired
- Future Notice Date
- Not specified
- Award Date
- Not specified
- Contract Period
- Not specified - Not specified
- Recurrence
- Not specified
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Active
- Lots Status
- Active
- Awards Status
- Not Specified
- Contracts Status
- Not Specified
Buyer & Supplier
Contracting Authority (Buyer)
- Main Buyer
- THE NORTH EAST FUND LIMITED
- Contact Name
- Not specified
- Contact Email
- tenders@northeastfund.org
- Contact Phone
- Not specified
Buyer Location
- Locality
- NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE
- Postcode
- NE1 3PA
- Post Town
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Country
- England
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLC North East (England)
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLC43 Tyneside
- Delivery Location
- TLC North East (England)
-
- Local Authority
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Electoral Ward
- Monument
- Westminster Constituency
- Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West
Further Information
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
View full OCDS Record for this contracting process
The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.
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