Kestrel Partners

Managing Partners Max Royde (CEO) and Oliver Scott lead investment decisions, supported by Investment Director Seb White. Co-founder Ari Zaphiriou-Zarifi also serves as a Partner. The team has worked together for more than 20 years, drawing on a network of senior advisers including Mohsen Moazami and Alnoor Ramji. The firm states that investment decisions are made collaboratively.

Kestrel sources opportunities by screening publicly listed smaller technology and services companies in the UK and Europe that exhibit low financial gearing, high recurring revenues, and strong cash conversion. The firm then conducts deep fundamental research into business models and management teams. It uses its network of industry contacts to assess and strengthen companies post-investment.

Kestrel Partners is structured as an owner-managed asset manager, not a family office or venture firm. It pools capital from external clients into funds managed by the partners, who are themselves significant investors in those same vehicles. Its approach is public-equity value activism — building minority stakes in listed companies — rather than making private venture investments.

Kestrel invests directly in the equity of publicly listed operating companies, not via fund commitments. The firm runs a concentrated portfolio and takes large minority positions that give it influence at the board level. It does not market itself as a fund-of-funds or as an allocator to other managers.

Kestrel targets smaller, publicly listed companies — meaning it provides growth and strategic capital to businesses that are already quoted but may be under-researched or undervalued. The firm does not invest in pre-IPO or venture-stage private rounds. Its involvement often spans several years as it works with boards to unlock value.

The firm focuses explicitly on technology and services companies. It looks for characteristics such as high levels of IP, sustainable gross margins, substantial international revenues, and negative working capital. It also invests in durable services businesses that share similar cash-flow profiles.

Kestrel states that its fees are structured to maximise investor alignment based on realised returns rather than on assets under management. The partners co-invest meaningfully in the vehicles they manage. The firm highlights this owner-operator model as a way to mirror the incentives of its clients.