The Board of B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc, the specialist investor in early stage financial services intermediaries (AIM: BPM), is pleased to announce its investment into Agri Services Company (PTY) Limited (“Agri Services”), based in Sydney Australia.
This transaction has seen the Group subscribe for a 36% equity stake in Agri Services for an initial cash consideration of AU$1.47m (c.£817,000), and further consideration of up to AU$1.13m (c.£628,000) may become payable.
Agri Services is a holding company that will in turn acquire 100% of Ag Guard Pty Ltd, which provides insurance solutions for the Australian agricultural sector.
Founders, Alex Cohn (Managing Director), Martin Birch (Technical Director) and Ben Ko (Finance & Operations Director) have considerable experience in the provision of general insurance services in the Australian rural sector.
Dan Topping, B.P. Marsh's Chief Investment Officer, who has been appointed to the Board of Agri Services commented, “The investment in Agri Services sees B.P. Marsh backing a strong and experienced management team in a business that is capable of becoming a serious market player over the next 5 years. We look forward to helping them grow their business.”
Commenting on the investment, Mr. Cohn, stated “We are genuinely thrilled to have B.P. Marsh as a partner going forward. B.P. Marsh acquiring a minority stake in the business allows us to focus on what we do best, whilst still receiving the benefit of their invaluable experience at a board level for growing and guiding the business. We look forward to working with Dan Topping and the team at B.P. Marsh as we enter this exciting phase of development.”