Maven Capital Partners secures Manchester bid PRIVATE equity specialist Maven Capital Partners has strengthened its reach south of the Border following a successful tender to manage a new £20 million fund in Manchester, writes Kristy Dorsey. Glasgow-based Maven said the Greater Manchester Loan Fund (GMLF) is ready to lend immediately, and is already in due diligence on several deals. Maven is hiring a handful of staff, including former NatWest structured finance chief Andrew Thomas as investment director. GMLF is similar to public sector-backed funds already run by Maven, including the £113m Scottish Loan Fund and the £35m Capital for Enterprise Fund A. The mandate takes total funds under management by Maven to roughly £320m, compared to £140m in 2009, when Maven was created through a management buy-out from Aberdeen Asset Management.