HgCapital Trust plc Regulatory News (HGT)

30 Nov 2007 16:15

HG Capital Trust PLC30 November 2007 The following is the text of a press release issued by HgCapital, which managesthe investment portfolio of HgCapital Trust plc alongside those of otherinstitutional clients. On completion of the sale of Hofmann Menu, HgCapitalTrust plc, a listed investment trust giving investors the opportunity toparticipate in all of HgCapital's investments, will realise a total of about£10.7 million. The impact of the realisation on the net asset value of HgCapitalTrust plc would be an increase of approximately 20.7p per share over thepublished October 2007 net asset value. The deal is subject to cartel clearancewith completion expected in January 2008. Hofmann Menu secures the support of a new strategic partner Hofmann Menu is a market-leading provider of frozen food products as well asrelated on-site catering for small business canteens and social organisationssuch as care homes, hospitals and schools in Germany. Under the successful stewardship of HgCapital, which acquired the company in2005, Hofmann Menu has sharpened its strategic focus on hospitals and othersocial organisations, invested in new product and service offerings,significantly expanded capacity and entered new geographical markets. In line with its strategic plan, Hofmann Menu's development has been verystrong, and the company will now accelerate its roll-out further with a newpartner. Gilde, an investor with a strong record of investing in food companies,has signed a binding agreement with HgCapital, which is realising its interest,to acquire a majority stake in the company. Hofmann Menu, headquartered in Boxberg-Schweigern, generates sales of just over€100 million and employs over 600 people. The company operates threeclosely-located production facilities near Boxberg-Schweigern and sixdistribution & logistics centers. The current daily production volume is inexcess of 150,000 meals, all of which are manually prepared in one of the threecentral kitchens and immediately shock-frozen after preparation (the successfulpremium quality "cook + freeze" concept). Johannes Ulrich, Managing Director, Hofmann Menu, commented:"We wish to strengthen our position in the hospital and social organisationsegments further and to expand our European footprint. In Gilde, we have found apartner that will support us not only in financial terms, but also throughknow-how and its well-established network". Ralph Wyss, Managing Director, Gilde Buy Out Partners, said:"Our majority participation represents a long-term commitment to Hofmann Menu.We will provide full support to the company in its entry into new marketsegments and in meeting its strategic objectives. This represents an opportunityfor Gilde to participate in a company that is well positioned to step up itsleading position in the business-to-business frozen food and food servicesegment". Philipp Schwalber, Director at HgCapital, said:"We are very pleased to have supported the company as it has grown and developedstrategically and operationally over the past two years. It is now in anexcellent position to continue this trajectory and I have every confidence inits future success. We wish the team at Hofmann all the very best in takingtheir plans forward". Transaction participants: For Gilde: Gilde Buy Out Partners: Ralph Wyss, Nikolai Pronk, Alexander Friedrich,Alexandra SchmidCommercial due diligence: Simon & Kucher (D. Lauszus, S. Hock)Financial: KPMG (D. Nawe, T Filipczyk)Legal: Kirkland & Ellis (V. Kullmann, C. Zuleger, W. Nardi, S. Lurken)Financing Bank: Unicredit Markets & Investment Banking (S. Kruse, V. Kruse)Mezzanine: European Capital (H. Twietmeyer, R. von Finckenstein)Financing Contracts, acting for banks: Linklaters (E. Reudelhuber, J.Koermoeczi)Management Contracts acting for management: Pollath + Partners (B. Hohaus)Tax: KPMG (M Dudenhofer, J. Berberich,)Insurance: Marsh (U. Heuser)Environment: URS (M. Lalic, C. Rupp) For HgCapital:HgCapital: Ph. Schwalber, J. DreesM&A: Sal Oppenheim (W. Schmerl, C. Hofer)Financial Vendor DD: KPMG (N. Hall)Legal: Clifford Chance (B. Hesse) Contacts:Hofmann MenuJohannes Ulrich Tel: +49 7930 601100 Gilde Buy Out PartnersRalph Wyss Tel: + 41 43 268 20 30 HgCapitalPhilip Schwalber Tel: +44 20 7089 7920 MaitlandPeter Ogden Tel: +44 (0)20 7379 5151 About HgCapitalHgCapital is a private-equity investor in the European mid-market. We focus oninvestments with an enterprise value in the range of €75-750 million. Ourbusiness model combines sector specialisation with dedicated, pro-active supportto our portfolio companies as well as the corresponding management expertiseacross all phases of the investment process. HgCapital manages more than €2.7billion for some of the world's leading institutional and private investors. Ourgoal is to achieve outstanding results for our investors, management team andintermediaries. Further information on HgCapital can be found at www.hgcapital.com. About Gilde Buy Out PartnersGilde Buy Out Partners is one of Europe's foremost mid-market private equityinvestors, with managed funds in excess of €1.3 billion. Gilde operates in theBenelux and its neighbouring economies France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.With offices in The Netherlands, Switzerland and France and its multinationalteam, Gilde is truly entrenched in these markets and can offer local expertisecoupled with European reach and execution skills. Since its inception in 1982,Gilde has invested in over 250 companies across a diverse range of sectors. At€600 million its current investment fund Gilde Buy Out Fund III is among thelargest dedicated mid-market buyout investment funds in Europe today. Gilde BuyOut Partners have consistently delivered high returns to its investors. TheGilde Buy Out Funds are subscribed by over 30 institutional investors whichinclude some of the worlds leading financial institutions, pension funds andspecialised investment funds. Further information on Gilde can be found at www.gilde.nl. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange