We closed 7 deals in 14 months (first $140m and a portfolio of 13 companies)
Want to build a media asset your competitors can’t copy?Spacebar Studios turns B2B newsletters into profit centers — driving pipeline, authority, and long-term enterprise value.- 115k+ subscribers in compliance- 7-figure ARR driven by email- Built for SaaS, services, and niche B2B marketsFirst 6 founders this month get their newsletters launched for free.Reserve your slot here: https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquireRunning a business can feel like you're doing it all alone—but you don’t have to.Scalepath connects you with a private network of over 2,000 experienced operators, and CEO Rand Larsen will personally intro you to 3 like-minded business owners in your area.It’s part mastermind, part growth engine, part therapy.Book your free intro call at: https://www.joinscalepath.com/Today’s guests are Lizzie Ryan and Darrel Connell, Managing Partners at IMBIBA, one of the UK’s leading specialist investors in leisure, education, and health. We cover IMBIBA’s operator-heavy model, why they back four-walls brands with proven unit economics, and how they sourced, structured, and exited deals through the toughest market in a decade.We dig into Fund I’s brutal raise, doing 7 deals in 14 months during COVID, building resilience in portfolio construction (childcare, wellness, and real estate-backed concepts), and the mechanics of operational gearing and like-for-like performance that drive exit timing. They share hard-won lessons on off-market origination (1,000+ outreaches → 600 meetings → 3–4 investments), upgrading teams post-investment, the “professional MD” hire, picking sites, saying no to bad leases, and aligning founder incentives with liquidity—without losing momentum.Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:00:07 Who are IMBIBA’s managing partners?00:02:36 IMBIBA origin story & “two lives” of the firm00:03:46 Fund I thesis: proven unit economics, operator help, rollout00:04:22 Sponsor break - Scalepath00:05:22 Building an operator-heavy PE team00:06:11 Fundraising war stories (2018): the brutal last £10m00:09:13 Post-raise: first 18–24 months00:09:52 COVID hits: portfolio shut, scenario planning, survival00:10:22 Doing 7 deals in 14 months: why founders chose them00:11:35 What great PE–founder support looked like in crisis00:14:19 Managing LP expectations during uncertainty00:15:07 Rebuilding the portfolio: childcare, wellness, four-walls brands00:16:14 Sponsor break - Spacebar Studios00:17:35 Designing for resilience: margins, labor mix, exits00:18:16 Portfolio & exits: NQ64, Little Houses Group00:20:05 Who buys these assets now? (trade, PE, US interest)00:21:49 When to sell vs. hold: operational gearing & like-for-like trends00:25:18 Typical deal structure: significant minority, founder-led00:26:14 Sourcing: mapping subsectors, off-market outreach00:27:20 Upgrading teams post-investment; the “professional MD” hire00:30:09 Funnel math: 1,000+ outreaches → 600 meetings → 3–4 deals00:30:41 Red flags & when to walk at the 11th hour00:31:43 Spotting real operators (site visits, staff, standards)00:33:07 How their team works: operating partners on boards00:34:57 Personal strengths & weaknesses (deal smell, negotiation)00:37:23 Where founders need the most help: people & property00:39:13 Coaching without micromanaging; the chair that moves the needle00:41:28 Incentives & aligning around liquidity events00:42:38 Navigating misalignment on timing and partial liquidity00:45:06 Where they’ll invest next; where they won’t (exitability lens)00:47:57 Supply of opportunities vs. capital in today’s UK market00:48:44 Advice for emerging managers: resilience & learning from failure00:50:01 What’s next
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