- Pelican Capital LLP (“Pelican Capital”) is a leading private equity firm, specialising in investing in technology and tech-enabled services companies to facilitate ownership change and drive growth;
- Equipment Management Solutions Group Limited (“EMS”) is a specialist provider of equipment management and supply chain intelligence services for customers across the UK, Europe and North America.
London, 2nd April, 2026: OakNorth, the digital bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, has provided a senior loan to enable UK private equity firm Pelican Capital’s investment into EMS, a leading global provider of technology-driven services for reusable supply chain assets. The debt raise was advised by Altenburg Advisory, a specialist debt advisor to owner-managed and private-equity owned businesses.
Pelican Capital is a UK private equity firm focused on backing founder-led and management-owned businesses to facilitate ownership change and accelerate growth. The firm invests in technology-enabled services and software businesses, supporting management teams with strategic, operational, and financial expertise.
Established in 2003, EMS operates in a highly specialised sector, helping manufacturers and distributors manage returnable supply chain equipment such as pallets, crates and totes. The investment will support EMS’s next phase of growth, including international expansion, further investment in its proprietary technology platform, and improved insights to its large, multinational FMCG customers.
Anthony Francis, Partner and Co-founder of Pelican Capital, commented on the transaction: “EMS has built an impressive reputation within a specialised but important part of global supply chains. The business combines deep industry expertise with a strong technology platform and long-standing customer relationships. We believe there is significant opportunity to build on this foundation by expanding the technology and analytics that underpin the service. We are excited to work with Joe and the team at EMS as it expands both its capabilities and international footprint.”
Joe Hebblewhite, Chief Executive Officer of EMS, said: “We work in a very specialised area of the supply chain where relatively small changes in equipment performance can have a significant financial impact. Our role is to bring clarity to that complexity. By combining operational knowledge with detailed data analysis, we help customers understand what is really happening across their equipment networks and where improvements can be made. The partnership with Pelican Capital allows us to accelerate the development of our technology and analytics so that we can continue supporting our partners with deeper insight and more reliable forward views of their supply chains.”
Kieran McKenzie, Director of Debt Finance at OakNorth, added: “EMS is a high-quality, technology-enabled business operating in a mission-critical part of the global supply chain, with strong recurring revenues and an asset-light model. We’re delighted to be supporting a business of this calibre alongside an experienced and highly regarded sponsor in Pelican Capital.”
ENDS
About OakNorth
Launched in September 2015, OakNorth is the bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs. It was founded to address the persistent funding gap facing lower mid-market businesses – a segment that accounts for a significant share of economic output yet remains underserved by traditional banks.
To date, OakNorth has provided over $20bn in lending to thousands of entrepreneur-led businesses across the UK and US, supporting the creation of more than 70,000 jobs and generating more than £38bn in economic value. Throughout multiple economic cycles, the bank has maintained a highly disciplined approach to credit, delivering performance metrics that place it among the top 1% of commercial banks globally.
It is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
Visit www.oaknorth.co.uk for more information.
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