Funds managed by Marwyn Investment Management LLP have made an investment of £8m in Palmer Street Limited. £6.2m of this is coming from the listed fund. Palmer is being set up to take advantage of the opportunity to provide a differentiated business proposition in the private capital servicing sector.
Palmer’s management team: Martin Schnaier, James Ireland, James Bermingham, Jason Bingham and Phil Godley have all previously worked in senior leadership roles at FTSE 250 company, Sanne Group, that was taken private by Apex Group for £1.5bn, with the transaction completing in August 2022. Palmer is expected to become an operational business in 2024 reflecting the time for regulatory approvals and compliance with non-compete undertakings. Marwyn will be the lead investor and James Corsellis, chief investment officer of Marwyn Investment Management LLP, will join the board of Palmer.
Palmer team biographies
Martin Schnaier
Martin was formerly the CEO of Sanne Group plc where he led the business through its £1.5 billion public to private transaction in 2022, delivering more than 100% share price growth during his tenure. At completion, Sanne employed over 2,500 people located in 23 offices across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. He worked closely with the other founders in various capacities during an eleven-year period at Sanne, which saw the business grow from a small, private company to a major international public company. Before Sanne, Martin worked at Babson Capital (now Barings) and Advent Ventures, overseeing finance and operations for private debt, private equity and venture capital funds. Martin qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG.
James Ireland
James was formerly the CFO of Sanne Group plc for four and a half years until it was acquired in 2022. Prior to the successful sale of the group, he worked closely with Martin and the executive committee to build Sanne from c.1,000 people to 2,500 across 23 locations as well as being responsible for eight acquisitions and minority investments. Before Sanne, James worked within Investec plc’s investment banking business where he led the Support Services sector team. This included working with Sanne on its IPO in 2015 and its subsequent acquisitions and capital raisings.
James Bermingham
James was Chief Legal Officer at Sanne Group plc, until its successful sale in 2022. Before that he was Group General Counsel at Aztec Group and founder of Aztec Luxembourg, which he very successfully managed for 9 years before being bought out in 2016. His professional background is an English solicitor and a Luxembourg avocat and has worked in the funds’ industry for many years. His experience covers all aspects of fund structuring and regulatory compliance within industry, which are topics that he has spoken on and written about extensively.
Jason Bingham
Jason was formerly the Chief Strategy Officer of Sanne Group plc and worked in the firm for 10 years until it was acquired in 2022. With over 20 years’ experience in the Private Capital industry, Jason has held various senior positions focused on commercial activities and leading client relationships. Previously, Jason worked within State Street’s Alternative Investment Services business, where he led the private funds’ offering in the UK. Jason qualified as a chartered company secretary with Mourant.
Phil Godley
Phil has worked as an advisor within the Private Capital industry since 2019. He has advised asset managers, data providers and service providers with regards commercial growth, data and AI. Prior to this, he was COO and an Executive Director of Sanne Group plc. At Sanne, he established the Private Debt and Capital Markets division in 2006 and became COO of Sanne in 2014 ahead of the IPO of the company in 2015. As a machine learning practitioner, he participates in competitive AI and seeks to advance the technology in areas such as natural language understanding.
[It will be interesting to see how this does. Marwyn Value Investors needs a ‘win’, having lost investors money in NAV terms over the past 10 years and with the shares languishing on a 44% discount.]
MVI : Marwyn backs Palmer Street