National private equity house Maven Capital Partners has further expanded its South West and Wales investment team with the appointment of Gareth Price as an investment director.
Gareth, pictured, is responsible for sourcing VCT (Venture Capital Trust) opportunities and investments for Maven’s MBO (management buyout) fund, and its private equity co-investor partner network in the South West and Wales, as well as managing portfolio investments in the region. 
Based in Maven’s Bristol office, he brings nearly 30 years’ investment and corporate finance experience to the Glasgow-headquartered firm, having spent his career advising both privately-owned SMEs and companies listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM and Main Market across a range of transactions, including acquisitions and disposals, IPOs (initial public offerings) and debt and equity fundraisings.
Gareth has joined Maven after eight years at the Development Bank of Wales, where he latterly led the equity portfolio team, providing equity and debt funding to SMEs in Wales to finance their growth plans.
Prior to this he spent 14 years as a corporate financier in London. While working at NatWest Markets (Hawkpoint), ABN AMRO and Landsbanki he advised on many UK and cross-border M&A transactions, fund-raisings and IPOs across a wide range of industry sectors, including acting as Nomad (nominated adviser) to a number of public companies quoted on the AIM market.
Gareth is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, having qualified while working at PwC.
At Maven, he will work closely with investee companies to help them achieve their business objectives and deliver shareholder value.
Recent investments lead by Maven’s South West team include leading the £3m investment in Port Talbot-based Motokiki, the UK’s first tyre price comparison website; Lending Works, a London-based leading UK peer-to-peer (P2P) lender and Bright Networks, a technology platform for recruitment also based in London.
Maven investment director Melanie Goward said: “We are very pleased that Gareth has joined the Maven team in the South West. He brings a huge amount of experience advising growth businesses at all stages of their development and considerable knowledge of the regional SME market.
“Maven will benefit from the strength of Gareth’s relationships with both companies and advisers and will further help us to identify and secure investments for our VCT and MBO funds, and private equity co-investment opportunities, as well as provide strategic advice to existing portfolio companies.
“With Gareth on board, we have the expanded resource to reach out to talented entrepreneurs and local business leaders, offering the investment they need to help them achieve their growth objectives.”
Maven is one of the most active private equity fund managers in the country, managing more than £415m of assets for a variety of client funds, including Venture Capital Trusts, UK regional debt and equity funds, and Maven Investor Partners – a syndicate of institutional, family office and experienced investors.
As well as Bristol and its Glasgow headquarters, it also has offices in Aberdeen, Birmingham, Durham, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Preston.
