Foot Anstey launches market leading product for the private equity sector
National law firm, Foot Anstey LLP, has launched a tech-enabled solution for the private equity investors and their portfolio companies called Ingenuity for Private Equity – GRIP.
GRIP is a one-stop-shop for private equity houses and portfolio companies. Using the technology, the system allows PE houses and its portfolio companies to share information with one another, including monthly financial information, or the monitoring of risk and compliance metrics. This provides each of the PE house and its portfolio companies with a tailored report on their business and then allows the PE house to monitor trends across its portfolio and to identify areas of most impact.
The aim is for complaint businesses during the investment cycle and, crucially, exit-ready businesses allowing attention to be put on the most important matters at the time of sale rather than fixing issues.
The system also allows the user to standardise policies and procedures across their entire portfolio, providing clarity and transparency for portfolio companies. From consistent risk management to streamlined information sharing, GRIP enables Foot Anstey’s clients to focus on satisfying legal and compliance obligations.
The firm already has two significant mid-market private equity houses using the service.
Those that sign up to GRIP will gain access to a portal that is customised to their needs. This portal creates a single point of information for portfolio companies, streamlining the management of their legal and compliance obligations through accurate data recording, tracking and oversight.
Foot Anstey is developing an ESG module to add on to its GRIP product that will enable users to track their portfolio’s ESG impact. Through the use of the personalised portal, users will be able to choose the metrics they want to monitor and show investors where and how they are taking action in a world, which is increasingly asking organisations how they’re making a positive difference to local and global communities.
Matt Stoate, head of corporate and private equity, commented: “We have worked in collaboration with private equity to develop this bespoke, technology-enabled, risk and compliance offering across their portfolio businesses.
“We can also design functionality within GRIP to integrate it with a PE house’s own systems; this enables each portfolio company to directly upload its financial data, supporting the financial analysis. We see a growing interest in ESG and how it is monitored, and impacts are made, across a portfolio – this product can lead the way on that.”
“The development of GRIP has enabled us to recruit new members to our Corporate team to service the platform and our GRIP clients, as well as work in unison with dedicated members of Foot Anstey’s digital team to manage and develop GRIP.”
The GRIP product was recently shortlisted in the Drawdown Awards 2022 in the Technology: Regulatory & Compliance category.