Scotsman Insider emag: find out which PE companies are active in Scotland's mid market
We look at the Private Equity companies that have ownership of the top 200 Mid Market companies in Scotland
Private Equity (PE) investment is a bellwether for economic growth, which is why we have analysed its involvement in Scotland's mid-market companies in the latest Scotsman Insider.
PE firms live or die by the success of their investments, therefore analysing where they are putting their money is a good exercise in predicting which parts of the economy are worth keeping an eye on.
Thirteen of the Scotsman Insider Mid Market 200 firms tracked in this edition carry confirmed PE backing.
Technology & Telecoms leads on revenue at £161.2m, with Energy Supply Chain on £142.2m.
This confirms comments made by Neal Allen of corporate finance house HNH Partners on the front page of this issue that PE money is investing in sectors that are linked to AI.
This is through either providing the infrastructure or in sectors that still require a manual element to their core function and are therefore less prone to market disruption.
In May, we also did the same PE analysis on our Scotland 500 ranking, which lists the country's top firms by revenue.
In this case, investment is more plentiful with thirteen per cent in the ranking backed by PE houses compared to seven per cent in the Mid Market 200.
Industrial and engineering leads PE-backed firms in the Scotland 500 at 32 per cent, followed by technology and business services (21 per cent) and energy and infrastructure (16 per cent).
In the Mid Market 200, the picture shifts with Technology & Telecoms tops the list at 33 per cent, then Energy Supply Chain (29 per cent) and business and professional services (12 per cent).
Scotland's mid market is the engine room of the economy and, as the growth figures in the data dashboard in this edition show, clearly brings economic benefit.
So how can we attract more Private Equity investment into Scotland's mid market?
In this edition, Daniel Halliday, leader of Foresight Group's private equity team in Scotland, talks about the need to remove friction and cites the income tax differential as a key barrier.
The Foresight team have completed five new deals since July 2025 and say there are still some "excellent" Scottish businesses out there that they are keen to back.
Tom Faichnie, partner at Aberdeen- based Quantify Advisors, also says in this edition: “Scotland has always been very attractive destination for private equity with the energy supply chain and technology being at the forefront of this for over 30 years. However, the political uncertainty over energy policy clearly reduced the attractiveness to investors, albeit confidence appears to be returning as skills are transitioned which can be applied to global markets.”
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