Investments

Private Company Investments

We take majority (not minority) stakes in a small number of private companies, either through seed capital or buying out a retiring founder/owner.

We have an advantage over large private equity or venture capital companies through our ability to acquire companies that might be too small for them, our long-term approach, and through using our operational experience to help management teams work through thorny issues.

Luxury interiors and hospitality brand
Software platform for accommodation and activity providers
Operates three hydro electric schemes in Scotland
Underwrites capacity in high quality Lloyds syndicates
Acquires and develops under-loved properties.

Public Company Investments

Public companies have the advantage of liquidity, breadth, scale and less management time. They form an important part of the portfolio and provide collateral for Seventy Five Capital’s underwriting activities.

We believe we have an advantage over fund managers who can’t afford a bad quarter. We can take long term positions in strong companies with a competitive moat, or in unloved, cheap companies with underlying strength, and be patient whilst we wait for compounding effects, or results and/or sentiment to turn.

For example, in 2022 and 2023 we built stakes in companies with strong fundamentals and balance sheets that did well from buying habits in the 2020-2021 coronavirus pandemic, then experienced a downwards reversion to more normal revenue patterns, and in the process fell out of favour with investors, in some cases to incredibly low valuations. From 2024 we started selling these investments as these companies stabilised and hit our price targets, investing much of the proceeds in short-dated government bonds to keep our powder dry for attractive opportunities or the next cyclical downturn.

Examples of our current holdings include:

  • Admiral: no.1 in UK car insurance.
  • Franchise Brands: a leader in international B2B franchises, no.1 in its markets.
  • IG: global no.1 B2C spread and CFD trading platform.
  • Marks and Spencer: future no.1 UK supermarket, 50% owner of Ocado in UK.
  • Ocado: global no.1 in food delivery technology.
  • Oxford Nanopore: no.1 in long-read DNA/RNA sequencing technology.
  • Netflix: global no.1 TV & film premium streaming content owner and distributor.
  • Uber: global no.1 taxi and take-away delivery app.
  • Wise: no.1 in international money transfer in UK, moving global and into mainstream banking.

Sold due to hitting our price target or buy outs:

  • 2024: Alphabet: no.1 in online search (hit price target).
  • 2024: Microsoft: no.1 in business software (hit price target).
  • 2024: Meta: no.1 in social media (hit price target).
  • 2024: SCS: leading UK sofa retailer (company acquired).
  • 2024: Shopify: no.1 platform for ecommerce solutions (hit price target).
  • 2024: Warpaint London: owner of leading cosmetics brands (hit price target).
  • 2025: Hargreaves Lansdown: no.1 B2C UK investment platform (company acquired).
  • 2025: International Distribution Service (Royal Mail): no.1 UK delivery company (company acquired).
  • 2025: Deliveroo: future no.1 in take-away delivery (company acquired).