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Liberty Corporate Finance is delighted to announce that it has advised the management team of Portman Finance Group, the UK SME finance platform, on Freshstream’s investment in the business.

Freshstream is investing alongside founder and Chief Executive Officer Alex Read and the wider management team, who will continue to lead the business and retain a majority ownership stake in the group. The investment is Freshstream’s tenth from its first independent fund, which closed in 2023 having raised €762 million.

Founded in 2007 by Alex Read, Portman has grown from a Northampton-based asset finance broker into a scaled finance distribution platform serving businesses across the UK. It connects SMEs with a broad range of commercial funding solutions through a panel of more than 45 lending partners, alongside its own lending activities. In recent years it has delivered strong growth while broadening its offering beyond asset finance into a wider range of SME funding solutions.

The firm combines a broker model with a principal lending capability, giving customers access to a wide choice of funding and giving Portman a diversified, resilient platform. Its founder-led culture and management ownership have remained central to the business since its formation.

Freshstream will partner with Alex Read and the management team to support the next stage of growth, drawing on its experience backing ambitious, entrepreneur-led businesses. The partnership will support Portman in expanding its reach, serving more SMEs and continuing to develop one of the UK’s leading commercial finance platforms, while management retain majority ownership of the business.