Corporate finance and venture capital services

Tender description

Finance Wales plc (‘FW’) has been appointed by the Welsh European Funding Office as the Holding Fund/Fund Administrator for a new fund for Welsh-based Micro to Medium Enterprises. The new fund will be known as the Wales Business Fund. For further information about the Fund and FW's requirements please see Section II.2.4) below. NPS is facilitating the procurement process on behalf of FW. The tender will be undertaken through the NPS electronic tendering profile at www.etenderwales.bravosolution.co.uk Full instructions on accessing the eTender are found in section V1.3 of this notice. Note: the authority is using eTenderwales to carry out this procurement process. To obtain further information record your interest on Sell2Wales at http://www.sell2wales.gov.uk/search/search_switch.aspx?ID=41333 FW has been appointed by the Welsh European Funding Office as the Holding Fund/Fund Administrator for a new fund for Welsh based Micro to Medium Enterprises. The new fund will be known as the Wales Business Fund the ‘Fund’. The Fund is anticipated to be a 135 900 000 GDP fund comprising 2 sub-funds: Equity and Loans. The Fund will operate within the State aid framework set out in the Communication from the Commission: Guidelines on State aid to promote risk finance investments 2014/C19/04 and will be required to be managed and administered in accordance with the requirements of the Structural Funds legislation. Making the Fund as accessible as possible to SMEs is crucial, as is ensuring that SMEs have access to the most appropriate finance for their needs, whether that is loan finance or equity finance. A single fund manager acting for the Fund as a whole would be better placed to make a decision about which sub-fund or product would best meet the needs of a particular SME. In addition, as the Fund will be demand led, FW will need to retain complete flexibility and discretion to adjust the capital allocations between the 2 sub-funds to reflect levels of demand and also any changing requirements of WEFO and the Welsh Government. FW recognises that, with no certainty over the level of the funds that may be available in the sub-funds during their term, it would be difficult for suppliers to bid for the fund management agreements. In light of the above, FW has concluded that it is not appropriate to divide the fund management services into lots. The purpose of the procurement process is to invite professional, financially robust, FCA authorised fund managers with: a an excellent understanding of the State aid framework and European Structural Funds legislation; b a demonstrable track record of successfully managing ERDF funded SME investment funds and securing private sector co-financing; and c the capability of: i managing and administering the Fund in accordance with (and where applicable to exceed) FW's requirements; and ii delivering the objectives for the Fund, in each case as detailed in the Invitation to Tender (‘ITT’) and related documents for this procurement process to tender for the provision of management services for the Fund. Given the nature and make-up of the Fund and the stringent requirements regarding European Structural Funds and State aid, organisations tendering to deliver the services will be required to meet minimum financial and technical selection criteria. Those minimum criteria will be set out in the ITT and related documents and suppliers should consider very carefully whether or not they can meet the same before participating in the procurement process. NPS is facilitating the procurement process on behalf of FW and is using eTenderwales to carry out this procurement process. Further information regarding the Fund, the services to be provided in respect of the Fund, the procurement process to appoint a fund manager and FW's requirements regarding the same is set out in the ITT and associated documents for this procurement process, which are available at www.etenderwales.bravosolution.co.uk Any organisations interested in participating in the procurement process should access the ITT and related documentation on www.etenderwales.bravosolution.co.uk and those organisations which consider that they are able to meet FW's requirements detailed in the ITT and related documentation should submit a tender response by the date set out in section IV.2.2) below.