Category: 2011

Quarter 4, 2011. Objective Associates Ltd is a software development and digital agency based in Stirling with a management team that have over 40 years experience with a strong track record in delivering complex software solutions. The company recently secured £250k of external equity investment in September 2011, which was augmented with additional RSA Grant Funding of £200k to enable the company to support its development in  ‘Seller Dynamics’ software and increase future growth of the company

As part of this funding round Objective Associates Limited, have strengthened their board ahead of their next phase of growth. Steven Morris joins the board as Executive Chairman having been lead investor in the company’s recent growth funding round in excess of £450,000.

Steven joins the board as the company accelerates the development of its web based technology to exploit the growing successes of online marketplaces – Seller Dynamics. “Online marketplaces account for a significant proportion of the £500 Billion e-retail global market”, explained Steven, “but retailers still don’t have the applications and services in place to maximise their return from marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay. It was the opportunity to fill that gap and to help online retailers maximise profits that excited me about the chance to work with Objective.”

Online retail sales growth in the UK is currently reported as growing at around 20% per annum, providing a valuable sales channel for retailers in an otherwise recessionary economy. With consumers hungry for best value and retailers increasingly using multiple online channels, the need for applications which can efficiently manage online stock levels, margins and logistics from a single contact point is at an all time high.

The company will be releasing a new application as well as a range of new services through 2012 which will assist retailers maximise the return from their online sales. Alex Ogilvie, CEO of Objective Associates, said “We’re delighted to get Steven on board – his international expansion experience and unrivalled drive will make a significant difference to the roll out of Seller Dynamics as we take the business forward in 2012.”

About Objective Associates Ltd
Objective Associates Limited are a leading software and web development agency based in Stirling, Scotland. The company works with a range of clients requiring ecommerce solutions as well as multinational organisations requiring internal business systems to assist in the streamlining of sales and business information flow. Formed in 2002 the company has significant expertise in the design and development of robust and scalable software systems utilising the Microsoft Platform and related technologies.

DC Consulting

DC Consulting were delighted to assist in this funding round and support the company in securing additional funding resource through the RSA Grant initiative to enable the company to fast track its growth plans in rolling out the Seller Dynamic platform.

02 February 2011 – ORIGIN and FISHERS SERVICES ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
Fishers Services and Origin Cleanroom Services have formed a long-term partnership with effect from 2 February. Fishers has taken an equity stake in Origin, solidifying the partnership and demonstrating its commitment to developing Origin’s garment business and giving the company access to institutional funding to accelerate growth in its core markets of life sciences and microelectronics.

The new venture will focus on providing an integrated garment solution to customers primarily in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and adjacent sectors where manufacturing plants will often require high end, and often sterile cleanroom garments as well as lab coats and other general workwear.

By coming together Origin and Fishers can now provide a single cost-effective source for all of these requirements with multiple site capability providing flexibility, security of supply and a fully transparent disaster recovery contingency – vital for volume manufacturers and healthcare providers alike.

Michael Jones, director of Fishers Services and responsible for its garment business welcomed the announcement.

“Origin is a natural fit and this partnership will enable both companies to accelerate growth with the aim of becoming the supplier of choice to the life sciences and microelectronics sectors,” he said.

Cleanroom laundry services will be provided from existing facilities in Livingston and Aberfeldy. These facilities have more than 40 years’ combined experience and have been audited and approved by many of the UK’s top pharmaceutical and microelectronics companies. Established and fully certified quality systems ensure a reliable, repeatable and fully traceable service, which meets and exceeds the requirements of all regulatory bodies.

Other garments, including laboratory coats and general workwear, will be processed through Fishers High-Clean garment facilities in Cupar and Newcastle. These plants are all fully Risk, Analysis, Biocontamination Control (RABC)-compliant and certified, which offers customers the unique opportunity to guarantee contamination-free processing of workwear through a programme of structured risk analysis, introduction of control measures, validation and monitoring, including the extensive use of swab testing. This system is implemented from the customer facility through the processing site and back to the point of use and therefore offers the most comprehensive and effective solution to customers with process-critical workwear applications as seen in the life sciences sector in particular.

The new venture will offer these products and services through innovative contractual structures tailored to the individual customer’s requirements. Significant savings over traditional Full Rental contracts can be achieved with the added benefit of increased flexibility and transparency, for example, all costs including termination costs are detailed on an open book basis with controversial residual values being eliminated completely.

Kenny Gall, chief executive of Origin, said: “We are excited by the opportunities presented by the Fishers’ investment and the coming together of the two companies. We have long believed that the UK market, and particularly the high technology sector, is lacking a consolidated, reliable and customer-focused supplier who can provide the service levels demanded by high volume and life-critical applications. When seeking a partner to address this gap in the market, Origin recognised that company culture was equally as important as capability and in Fishers we have found an organisation whose success is based on a reputation for delighting their customers with high quality products backed by responsive customer service.”

As well as an extended product offering, the tie up with Fishers brings ORIGIN a new financial strength and a source of funding to accelerate their growth plans.

www.origin-cleanroom.com

DC Consulting recently secured a property development facility of £1.8m for an existing client.

September 2011

August 2011 saw the successful conclusion of the deal to acquire a Prime Retail Unit

DC Consulting successfully assisted the management team of a new company looking to break into the Retail Sector, who bring a significant pedigree and heritage within the Retail Sector. This transaction brought together a six-figure funding package of both management equity and bank finance, required to acquire the business and to provide sufficient working capital for the company going forward.

Not only did the transaction involve significant negotiation and project management with the vendor, but also considerable structuring advice in terms of tax and other implications involved with the transaction, which is expected to be the first of many for the newly formed team.

Sphinx Medical enters fast growing market following successful fund raising with DC Consulting.

Sphinx Medical was started last year to focus on the development, manufacture, and distribution of implantable silicone devices for the management of severe incontinence.

The company has raised £600,000 in an initial financing round led by Borders-based angel syndicate TRI Cap, with members of the Kelvin Capital syndicate, investing through TRI Cap, contributing the majority of the private equity to the deal. The round also included investments by the Scottish Investment Bank’s Scottish Co-Investment Fund and by management.

Sphinx’s initial product is an artificial anal sphincter (AAS), which addresses a problem that is forecast to increase rapidly as the population ages. Incontinence can affect women after childbirth when the sphincter muscles are unable to recapture their full strength, but it is with the elderly that the problem becomes more widespread. Incontinence causes acute embarrassment to its sufferers; colostomy is available for the most severe cases, but otherwise there are few effective treatments that can restore a patient’s dignity. Sphinx’s device is intended to play a major role in doing exactly that.

The AAS replaces the anal sphincter muscles with a silicone pump operating silicone gel pads, which can be manually activated. The device was developed in Glasgow by Dr Ian Finlay and it has been successfully implanted in more than 20 patients, some of whom have benefited for a period in excess of ten years. The device has been issued with a CE mark and the procedure has gained recognition from NICE.

The centres which have used the trial devices in the past, and have staff already trained and approved to carry out the procedure, are keen to order more when the finished product is available early next year, meaning that the company has a ready-made sales pipeline in place. The market is in effect new, and Sphinx has only one direct competitor, with a product based on old technology, over which the AAS is believed to have significant competitive advantages.

Whilst closing the investment the executive team continued to explore adjacent options to enhance the overall Sphinx offering and secured Heads of Terms to acquired a complementary device for the treatment of urinary incontinence.

According to DC Consulting, which advised Sphinx on its fundraising, the product development process and timeline for the AAS is similar to that of the gastric band, which took 18 years to launch into the market, and was subsequently purchased just two years later by Johnson and Johnson for $110 million. The AAS device has a significantly larger market opportunity than the gastric band, and Sphinx’s board believes that a trade sale within a five year period is the most likely exit route for investors.

Sphinx has assembled an experienced management team led by chief executive Jonathan Lintott and chief operating officer Joseph Gallagher. The company is building a dedicated manufacturing facility at its site in Bellshill, and is planning to start shipment of the devices in early 2012. Joe Gallagher said “We are moving rapidly to install and validate our new manufacturing facility and we target gaining regulatory approval for its use by the end of 2011. This will allow us to meet our goal of commencing manufacture during 2011.”
CEO Jonathan Lintott said “I am very excited that we have received this support from our investors. This will allow us to build a new medical device business aimed at meeting the needs of patients across the world and further reinforcing Scotland’s position in the biomedical field.”

Dr Finlay, who will be involved in the future direction of the company, added “I am pleased to be part of this venture. Sphinx will ensure this device – which has the potential to dramatically improve the quality of life – is available to patients “. TRI Cap is represented on the board of Sphinx by member Dr John Hall, who brings with him extensive experience in the pharma and life sciences sectors. Sphinx has been supported in its development by Scottish Enterprise’s National High Growth team.

DC Consulting recently completed the re-financing of a client’s residential property portfolio, securing debt funding of £725,000.

May 2011

DC Consulting, as lead corporate finance adviser, negotiated an equity investment and extension of bank facilities for a corporate hospitality business.

April 2011

VueKlar Cardiovascular is developing cardiovascular implants with proprietary features that bring substantial benefits to patients, to clinicians, and to hospitals.

The company recently completed its first round of funding, a £300,000 package of equity, loan, and a SMART grant award. Three Israeli investors, professional contacts of VueKlar’s founder and chief medical officer Dr Andreas Melzer, were joined in the investment by the founders and by the Scottish Investment Bank’s Scottish Seed Fund. The principal investor is one of Israel’s leading surgeons in minimally-invasive procedures, and is a successful entrepreneur and medical device investor. His co-investor is another leading Israeli physician, and the third is a medical device entrepreneur who was most recently CEO of a surgical implant business.

Andreas Melzer has 25 years’ experience researching and developing technologies and procedures for minimally invasive therapies. His particular speciality is MRI-guided therapies. He has been involved in eight companies founded on the back of his IP, and he is the inventor of VueKlar’s core technology. His co-founder Richard Boyd has expertise in the commercialisation of new products and technology. At PRTM, an operations management consultancy, he helped bring over 20 new products successfully to market for several large technology companies like Agilent Technologies and Nokia. In Scotland Boyd started a business, Mainstay Innovation, providing interim management and business development services to research organisations and young tech companies.

Cardiovascular implants include occluders, stents, prosthetic heart valves, and filters. They are all implanted in a minimally invasive procedure, in which the implant is compressed into a tube or catheter which is inserted into the body, often at the top of the leg, and threaded through the blood vessels to the point where it is positioned and released.

X-ray and ultrasound-based imaging techniques are used to see inside the body and guide implant placement and carry out subsequent follow-up examinations. MRI would be a better technique, because of the drawbacks of using x-rays (radiation dosages, and toxic contrast agents for the imaging) or ultrasound (probes are inserted down the throat, causing serious discomfort, infection and sometimes tissue damage). Aside from the patient problems associated with other methods, MRI gives clinicians superior images, with excellent soft tissue imaging and blood flow data. Overall, using MRI is less invasive and safer for patients, offers better imaging for clinicians, and better financial outcomes for hospitals.

The problem – well recognised by clinicians – is that cardiovascular implants do not image well in an MRI. The metallic structures of implants interfere with the MRI signals and severely compromise the images in and around the implants. So whereas MRI is the method of choice for diagnosis and the planning of surgery, the imaging issues mean that MRI has not up to now been a viable option for guiding implant placement or for follow-up examinations. Furthermore, future diagnostics by MRI are prevented if there is an implant in the region of interest.

VueKlar has developed MR-enhancement technology which not only removes the interference, but also increases image contrast by 3 to 4 times the native MRI image. As a result, it is possible to make a detailed examination of the implant and of the tissues around it, without the need for contrast agent. The immediate benefit is to enable the use of MRI for follow-up examinations and any future diagnostics in the same part of the body; this is better for the patient, better for the clinician, and actually cheaper for the hospital, and no change is needed to the hospital’s equipment set up. MR-enhancement in the right hand half of the pictured stent shows how MRI can now be used to check for common complications such as a blood clot (as shown). VueKlar implants also open the door to MRI-guided implantation, so MRI can become a ‘one stop shop’ for all the procedures, with the attendant benefits for patients, clinicians and hospitals.

The company’s initial business model is contract development, licensing and potentially manufacturing MR-enhancement technology for other implant manufacturers. A partnership with a reputable implant manufacturer validates the demand for the technology; the subsequent commercial launch of a device and its success in the clinic validates clinical and commercial benefits.

The company estimates that a single implant could bring contract development worth over £1m, and future royalties of between £1m and £5m per year. Further revenue is anticipated from manufacturing the technology. The company has developed prototype stents, filters, heart valves and occluders and has successfully demonstrated these through animal trials. Its technology is protected by a portfolio of nearly 50 granted or pending patents, and significant proprietary expertise. It has begun approaching manufacturers about integrating its technology in next generation devices, and has recently signed its first deal.

The £300,000 investment completed in February is being used to secure an initial development agreement with an implant manufacturer, to develop a demonstrator of one of its own, proprietary implants, and to identify key hires for the next stage in the company’s development. Assisted by DC Consulting, VueKlar is preparing for the next funding round in the second half of this year, to build its development operation in support of its contract development and licensing business model.

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