Duke puts £7.7m more into royalty partner BIL

Alternative capital provider Duke Royalty announced a follow-on investment of around £7.7m into its existing royalty partner, Bakhchysarai Ireland (BIL), on Thursday.

The AIM-traded firm said BIL is an investment holding company created to execute a buy-and-build strategy of “synergistic companies” within the UK and Ireland recruitment sector, which started with the management buyout of Brightwater Selection Ireland.

It said the new capital would support BIL's second acquisition, PharmEng, trading as PE Global, which it described as “one of the leading” healthcare and life sciences recruiters in Ireland, with a growing presence in the UK.

Duke said its latest investment in BIL increased its total exposure to £9.4m, confirming that the £7.7m would be used by BIL to acquire a 97.5% equity stake in PE Global.

As part of the transaction, the entire Duke investment was refinanced as a new royalty agreement, with “typical” Duke investment terms instead of a perpetual facility

“We are very pleased to support BIL in delivering this acquisition, which will not only be immediately accretive to its existing business but will also provide it with significant diversification benefits,” said chief executive officer Neil Johnson.

“Providing existing royalty partners with capital to undertake synergistic merger and acquisition transactions is a core part of Duke's investment mandate, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership with BIL as it continues to execute its buy and build strategy.”

At 1203 GMT, shares in Duke Royalty were down 1.46% at 46.61p.