Silverfish scoops capital boost to battle headwinds and aim for growth

Silverfish has today announced that it has joined the ranks of cycling distributors that have recently secured further investment to guarantee the business is able to tackle well-publicised industry headwinds and maintain a growth trajectory as the supply chain settles.

The significant new financial support comes through a shareholder funding round led by alternative investments specialist Connection Capital. It is delivered in large part as a response to external macro-economic events following Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that catalysed the existing inflationary pressures and a cost-of-living crisis.

Silverfish Founder Darren Mabbott commented “We make no bones about it, it has been a challenging twelve months but with additional funding now in place and with the support of our fantastic brands and retail customers, we are really well placed to accelerate our exciting plans for the business.”

This further investment not only provides the business with additional support to trade through these headwinds, but also to fund further growth. Alongside Connection Capital and main shareholders, Silverfish has been further supported by its lending partner ThinCats, the alternative lender to mid-sized SMEs, through a restructuring package aimed to provide long-term financial support to the business.

Michael Coupland, Investment Director, Connection Capital commented: “The Silverfish team did an excellent job driving the strategic agenda in 2022. Despite the challenging operating environment, the team successfully added high value new brands to the portfolio, secured wider geographic coverage with existing brands into Germany and secured extensions to key distribution agreements. With the quality of team and brand portfolio the business is poised to grow strongly over the coming years.”

James Sharp, Head of Borrower Solutions, ThinCats added: “This financial restructuring package will support the Silverfish management team and its shareholders to navigate through some of the knock-on impacts brought on by a challenging macroeconomic environment. ThinCats is well known for providing flexible lending solutions to mid-sized SMEs, however this transaction shows how we support our borrowers post funding – particularly in times of difficulty. Fundamentally Silverfish remains a strong business with a rich heritage in its field and a best-in-class management team led by Darren Mabbott (Founder) and Matthew Osborne (Managing Director). The strength of our relationship with Michael and the Connection Capital team provided us with significant comfort to support the business.”

Silverfish is the distributor to Yeti Cycles, FOX, 100%, Race Face, Michelin, Forestal, SDG, Marzocchi, CushCore, Peaty’s, Ride Concepts, Easton, Birzman and Skratch Labs.