By Ryan Hewlett

April 24 - (The Insurer) - London-listed venture capital investor BP Marsh has paid 10 million pounds ($13.3 million) for an 8% shareholding in iO Partners, a new player in the alternative finance market.

BP Marsh, which typically invests in the specialty insurance intermediary space, said in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday that it would acquire a mixture of preferred and ordinary shares in iO Partners.

iO Partners is a buy-and-build alternative financing player which brings together a diverse group of alternative finance providers to support and grow the UK SME market. It has been launched to bridge the funding gap that has emerged as high street banks have scaled back lending to SMEs.

NYSE-listed global active asset manager Janus Henderson also participated in the transaction, investing 10 million pounds on the same terms as BP Marsh.

Upon completion, iO Partners intends to acquire three alternative finance providers as part of what BP Marsh described as its strategy to become a “transformative player” in the alternative finance space.

iO Partners is led by CEO Mike Ellwood and group managing director James Shore.

Ellwood is an experienced corporate banker having previously been managing director for RBS Structured Finance. Most recently, he established Santander as a player in the UK corporate banking market as head of corporate and commercial banking.

Shore has worked in financial services for 15 years, beginning his career with Close Brothers, the UK merchant banking group, then moving to Lombard International Assurance.

“BP Marsh sees this an opportunity to invest in an experienced management team with a track record in the sector, backed by strong investors, which can deliver long term returns to our shareholders, further developing on our ability to source and make unique investment opportunities in the financial services sector, alongside our primary focus on insurance distribution investments,” the investor said.

The company also reiterated that it has a “strong pipeline” of new business opportunities within the insurance intermediary sector and anticipates making additional investments over the course of its current financial year to January 31, 2026.