Braveheart taking on London

Published on Tuesday 4 December 2007 00:56

VENTURE capital group Braveheart is looking to open an office in London within the next 12 months as part of "aggressive" expansion plans.

The Perth-based firm added it was also in discussions with English universities about possible investment fund partnerships, as it revealed it had moved into the black in its first set of results since floating on junior stockmarket AIM in March - bringing in pre-tax profit of 143,000 in the six months to 30 September.

The same period the previous year saw a 130,000 loss.

Chief executive Geoffrey Thomson said the firm, which now boasts 31 companies in its portfolio, was on track to grow fivefold over the next three years.

Revenue from investment management operations rose 87 per cent to 451,000, while its cash reserves stand at 5.9 million - which Thomson said put the company in a strong position to invest in the event of a downturn in the markets.

He added: "The market conditions are clearly difficult, but because of that, there are very good investment opportunities and we have the cash reserves to make the most of them.

"We are looking at a very aggressive growth strategy, which will meet the expectations we set out at the time of flotation."

Thomson said Braveheart was looking at potential deals in the semiconductor and technology market in Scotland, while building on its existing partnerships with Edinburgh and Strathclyde universities to a maximum of five such agreements. He added: "We want to grow our business south of the Border."