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27 Jul 2009 07:00
To: RNS
From: F&C Private Equity Trust plc
Date: 24 July 2009
Realisation of Viking Moorings
F&C Private Equity Trust announces the realisation of its largest direct holding, Viking Moorings, which together with the proceeds from additional holdings through Inflexion managed funds, will yield net proceeds to the company of £12.2m. This together with the impact from holdings in Inflexion managed funds represents an uplift over our latest carrying value of £1.5m.
Viking Moorings, the market leader in the provision of oil rig mooring systems in the North Sea, was acquired by Inflexion Private Equity in December 2005 for £22m. At the same time F&C Private Equity invested alongside Inflexion with £1.06m giving the company a 9.2% share of Viking. Viking was refinanced in September 2007 allowing F&C Private Equity Trust to recover more than its initial investment. The sale announced today of Viking to HSBC Private Equity for an enterprise value of £170m reflects the spectacular progress of Viking's profitability over the last four years and the very substantial future prospects for growth internationally. As part of the transaction Inflexion and F&C Private Equity will rollover a small proportion of their proceeds into the new holding company of Viking and will therefore continue to benefit from the company's growth. The total consideration represents an investment multiple of 11.4x of which 9x is cash. The IRR of the investment is 106%.
The exit of Viking has been achieved at an enterprise value higher than our latest valuation. This transaction not only significantly improves the cash resources of the company and enhances Net Asset Value but verifies the valuation methodology and underlines the importance of our strategy of selectively co-investing with strong mid market private equity groups such as Inflexion.
For more information contact
Hamish Mair, F&C Asset Management PLC 0131 718 1184
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