HgCapital launches £50m share placing to fund investments

The firm said that it has received commitments of £35.1m (€38.6m) from new investors and existing shareholders, and commitments from conditional placees for another £14.9m (€16.4m).

HgCapital Trust chairman Roger Mountford said, “We are very pleased to be announcing this fundraising which has attracted strong support from both existing shareholders and new investors. These funds will enable the trust to take full advantage of the investment opportunities the board sees opening up at this stage in the economic cycle."

HgCapital says it has a strong balance sheet, with cash in reserve. The motivation for the share issue is to retain sufficient liquidity through each investment cycle to allow investment at different points in the cycle, and to avoid the need to prematurely exit companies to raise capital.

Listed since 1989, HgCapital Trust has out-performed FTSE All Share Index on an annualised basis in the periods of five, seven and ten years to 31 December 2009 by 9.3, 15.1 and 12.8 per cent, respectively. The firm said that its latest buy-out fund, HgCapital 6, is in the final stages of fundraising, with aggregate commitments exceeding £1.88bn (€2bn), with the firm’s commitment currently standing at £280m (€308.2m).

The firm recently launched an investigation into whether portfolio company Goldshield understated its profits over a number of years as a public company. HgCapital acquired the UK pharmaceuticals company in January in a deal valued at £179m (€244.2m), with £80.8m (€110.2m) of the transaction made up of equity from the firm.

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