HgCapital, the European sector focused private equity investor, has announced the closure of its consumer and leisure team and its Amsterdam office, along with the departure of four inv
HgCapital, the European sector focused private equity investor, has announced the closure of its consumer and leisure team and its Amsterdam office, along with the departure of four investment professionals, with the firm’s activities restructured into four larger sector groups.
The firm says the changes will deliver additional resources to its most successful teams as they prepare to exploit one of the most promising markets for new investment in decades.
It believes that larger teams will be required to unlock the best investments over the next two to three years.
Since raising its last fund in June 2005, HgCapital has realised 30 investments, including 16 since the onset of the credit crunch, at an average multiple of 2.7 times cost.
It is now relatively under-invested compared with its peers and says it is well placed to take advantage of lower prices.
HgCapital Trust, the investment trust managed by the firm, has cash amounting to more than 50 per cent of net assets.
In future, the firm’s buy out business and its 45 professionals will be organised into four enlarged sector groups: technology media telecoms; healthcare; services; and industrials. The latter will principally be based out of the firm’s Munich office. The leisure and consumer sector team will be closed, as will the Amsterdam office.
Hg, which says it has always placed sector before geography in running its business, will serve the Benelux countries from London and Munich, as it does in Scandinavia. Four investment professionals will leave as a consequence of these changes.
Nic Humphries, HgCapital chief executive (pictured), says: ‘The next few years will be a good vintage for new investments but we will have to search harder and competition will be fierce. In short, successful firms will have to do more work to invest every cent than before. The changes we are announcing today will focus HgCapital on both its core strengths and the best opportunities so that we continue to make our investors strong returns.’
