AshGrove’s co-founders have been appointed managing partners after leading a buyout of some of the firm’s shareholders, as the European lender installs a chairman and scales its platform.
Co-founders Phil Fretwell and Jonathon Ferguson have been appointed managing partners, while Simon Turner has been named senior adviser and non-executive chairman.
This comes as Fretwell and Ferguson have facilitated a buyout of AshGrove’s remaining shareholders. This includes the divestment of equity by co-founder Ilkka Rantanen, who has reinvested a portion of his proceeds into the platform, as well as the exit of two Nordic family offices.
London-based AshGrove provides tailored senior secured and growth debt solutions to B2B software and services companies.
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“The opportunity across European B2B software and services continues to broaden as businesses look for specialist capital partners who understand the nuances of their business models including their growth dynamics,” Ferguson said. “Our focus has been on building a platform with the origination reach and market connectivity to access that opportunity consistently, while maintaining the discipline that has underpinned our performance to date.”
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Rantanen will continue to lead the firm’s Nordic expansion and support its development as it expands its presence across Europe.
AshGrove said the buyout consolidates ownership in the firm and provides additional primary capital to support the growth of its strategy, geographic footprint and investor base.
“We are immensely grateful to our selling shareholders, including the two Nordic family offices that supported our early growth, and to Ilkka, whose contribution has been, and will continue to be, instrumental,” said Fretwell. “We are delighted that Ilkka remains such a central part of our leadership team and will continue to be a meaningful stakeholder as we enter this next phase. We are also delighted that Simon Turner, who has worked closely with the firm for many years and is an exceptional business builder, will take on the role of non-executive chairman and deepen his alignment with the business.”
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