UK Tycoon Souter’s Family Office Seeks Deals Amid Global Tension

mhkvxkbimkl435ixjcdajplt_media_dl_1.png Souter Investments

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(Bloomberg) — An investment firm for Brian Souter, who built one of the world’s biggest transport fortunes, plans to keep striking deals even as other money managers curb risk-taking amid heightened volatility in global markets.

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The Stagecoach co-founder’s namesake family office is staying alert to new investments in private equity, where it’s carved out a niche allocating to companies below the radar of buyout giants such as Blackstone Inc., according to the Scottish tycoon. The Edinburgh-based firm co-invested last month with Horizon Capital in acquiring a majority stake in consulting firm ERA Group for an undisclosed sum, and it’s already lining up further deals.

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“Our principle is to invest right through the cycle,“ Souter, 71, whose family office oversees about £388 million ($529 million) in net assets, said in a recent interview. ”We don’t dip in and dip out.”

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Private investment firms for the world’s rich are increasingly a force to reckon with in global business, pushing into markets for buyouts, second-hand private equity and even taking activist positions in listed companies. Usually serving a single or small group of clients, they’re often able to be more nimble than many institutional firms.

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That flexibility becomes more valuable amid a geopolitical and macroeconomic environment that seems to shift by the day, with President Donald Trump‘s tariff plans creating uncertainty and spreading Middle East conflicts roiling oil prices. More than half of 175 family offices surveyed this year by BlackRock Inc. cited the current geopolitical landscape as increasingly critical to their allocation decisions.

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“We could see this potentially bringing some opportunities for us,” said Calum Cusiter, a Souter Investments managing director. “It’s just about the risk antenna being a bit more alert.”

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Souter, a former Arthur Andersen accountant, founded Stagecoach with his sister in 1980 as Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government began to deregulate the UK’s bus industry. He expanded the business through acquiring rivals while maintaining a focus on affordable fares, turning it into Britain’s biggest bus operator and a member of the nation’s benchmark FTSE 100 Index.

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He was still serving as Stagecoach’s chief executive officer when he established Souter Investments almost two decades ago, with the transport company making up the bulk of his wealth.

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It has since struck more than 50 deals and sought to preserve Souter’s fortune by diversifying into sectors such as financial services, energy and health care, reducing Stagecoach’s concentration to about 16% of total assets by early 2022.

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Later that year, Deutsche Bank AG’s DWS Infrastructure completed an all-cash takeover of the bus operator, handing Souter and his 82-year-old sister Ann Gloag a total of about £120 million between them. Roughly £25 million from the deal separately went to Souter’s namesake foundation, which oversees more than £100 million of investments and receives funding through his family office, filings show.