Ilke Homes has raised £100m from new and existing shareholders to help the modular housing company ‘significantly scale-up’ its operations and open a new manufacturing facility.
The round was led by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, with existing investors TDR Capital and Sun Capital also subscribing to the fundraising round, which was arranged by Citigroup.
Ilke says the funding, which it claims is the largest ever raised by a UK modular housebuilder, will be ‘transformational’ for the company and allow it to invest heavily in automating more of its manufacturing processes to further drive productivity. When fully operational the new manufacturing facility will increase ilke’s output to 4,000 homes a year.
Rahul Ahuja, co-head of European credit at Fortress Investment Group, said: “We are excited about our investment in ilke Homes. We see ilke Homes as the UK market leader in the manufacturing of modular housing and believe the company is uniquely positioned to increase the availability of high quality affordable housing in the UK while accelerating the transition to net zero.”
Jonathan Mitchell, partner at TDR Capital, an existing investor in ilke Homes, added: “The success of ilke Homes’ capital raise in the context of the difficult current funding environment is testament to its innovative business model and dedicated management team. Having achieved triple digit growth across the group for successive years, ilke Homes is strongly positioned and capitalised to deliver in a market with strong long term fundamentals.”
Giles Carter, CEO at ilke Homes, added: “Our latest fundraise demonstrates that the private sector is increasingly recognising the investment case for change. With the race to net-zero well and truly underway, the next few years will be a decisive time in the history of housebuilding, so it’s important that true market disruptors are empowered to play a leading role.
“Having pioneered a zero-carbon, zero energy bills solution in partnership with Octopus Energy and Gresham House, the new monies will allow us to roll out our proven concept across the country and shield consumers from the cost-of-living crisis. By investing to increase our manufacturing capacity, we will also create hundreds of skilled, green jobs.”
