SVG Capital joins Permira in Breakthrough social investment fund

The private equity investor and fund management business SVG Capital plc (‘SVG') has joined Permira LLP to become the second investor in the pioneering social investment fund, Breakthrough. It has committed £40,000 p.a. for up to five years to the fund which was founded in 2005 by leading UK social enterprise CAN and private equity fund Permira.

CAN's Breakthrough venture philanthropy programme is now into its second fund (Permira committed £1.35m over three years in 2007) and invests capital growth funds and high-level business skill into established social enterprises.

Chairman of SVG Nick Ferguson said: "It gives us great pleasure to contribute to such an innovative and worthwhile initiative as the Breakthrough investment programme. We hope the grant will help to develop a number of social enterprises and provide them with the support they need to grow. We very much look forward to working with CAN's Breakthrough venture philanthropy programme in the future."

CEO of CAN and pioneer of the Breakthrough fund, Adele Blakebrough MBE said: "We are delighted that SVG are contributing to the Breakthrough fund and it's exciting that they recognise the importance of supporting social enterprise. This self-sustaining business model has become a vibrant part of our enterprise culture. Their business-like approach to generating social change makes them an attractive investment for a growing number of venture philanthropists."

To date there are five social enterprises in the Breakthrough portfolio with two new investments targeted for later this year.

The evaluation of Breakthrough I found that turnover of the portfolio organisations grew on average 20% per year from 2005 - 2007. Their social impact grew faster - at around 40% over the same period. Permira was the sole investor in the first fund which ran from 2005 - 2007.

ENDS

For an interview with Adele Blakebrough, please contact Reena Chadha at CAN on 020 7922 7759 or email r.chadha@can-online.org.uk

Notes to Editors:

"A social enterprise is a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business and in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners." (Former DTI definition, 2002).

To date, Breakthrough has invested in:

FareShare 1st - http://www.fareshare.org.uk/

Law for All - http://www.lawforall.org.uk/

Training for Life - http://www.trainingforlife.org/

Green-Works - http://www.green-works.co.uk/

TimeBank - http://www.timebank.org.uk/

CAN was founded in 1998 and exists to help social enterprises overcome barriers to growth and maximise their social impact. It works with a number of corporates to leverage business skills in high potential social enterprises/charities. They include Bain and Company, Sony and Panasonic. Permira and SVG also provide capital growth.

CAN also runs its own social enterprise, CAN Mezzanine providing high quality, affordable office space for Third Sector organisations. To date it houses 110 organsiations in two sites in central London and plans to open two further sites this year.

Adele Blakebrough CEO of CAN was awarded an MBE in 2006 for services to the sector and last year won the prestigious Business in the Community Marks and Spencer Sieff Award for engaging corporates for social benefit.

SVG Capital plc (‘SVG') is a FTSE 250 private equity investor and fund management business listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: SVI). Its main investment objective is to achieve capital appreciation by investing principally in private equity funds that are managed or advised by Permira, a leading international private equity firm. At 31 December 2007, SVG had net assets of £1.3 billion and uncalled commitments of £1.6 billion.

SVG's fund management and advisory businesses, SVG Advisers and SVG Investment Managers, manage or advise investment vehicles that invest in a range of diversified private equity funds managed by third-party teams or public equities using private equity techniques. At 31 March 2008 SVG Advisers had combined funds under management and commitments of approximately €4.4 billion.

For further information visit SVG Capital's website at http://www.svgcapital.com/.

Permira is a leading international private equity firm. The Permira Funds make long-term investments to transform the performance of businesses, helping management to realise new visions and build stronger organisations. Since 1985, Permira Funds have completed over 180 private equity transactions.