B.p Marsh Regulatory News (BPM)

2 Apr 2008 09:05

B.P. Marsh & Partners PLC02 April 2008 Date: 2nd April 2008On behalf of: B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc ("B. P. Marsh" or the "Company")Embargoed until 0905hrs B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc Hyperion partners with 3i B. P. Marsh & Partners Plc (AIM: BPM), a niche venture capital provider toearly stage financial services businesses, today announces that 3i, a worldleader in private equity, has completed a £50m equity investment for a minorityshareholding in the Hyperion Insurance Group ("Hyperion"), a leadinginternational insurance group specialising in wholesale, retail and reinsurancebroking, and underwriting. B. P. Marsh first invested in Hyperion InsuranceGroup in 1994 and will retain a shareholding of approximately 20%. 3i will support Hyperion as it enters its next phase of growth - expanding boththe range of products it provides and the territories in which it operates. Hyperion was founded in the UK in 1994 and has grown from initially specialisingin Professional Indemnity (PI) and Directors' and Officers' Liability (D&O) tobeing a leading global provider of a range of specialist insurances through itssubsidiaries: Howden, DUAL and CFC. Hyperion now services its clients throughits operations across Europe and Scandinavia, the Middle East, Asia, theAmericas and Australia and transacts business in over 50 countries around theworld. The Group has achieved an annual compound growth rate of approximately40% per annum since its inception. Commenting on the transaction, Brian Marsh OBE, B.P. Marsh's Chairman, said: "Wevery much welcome this news for Hyperion. We are pleased to be associated withsuch an outstanding success story and we see this as a major step forward inHyperion's continued growth and development." David Howden, Chief Executive of Hyperion, said today of the transaction: "Inchoosing 3i as our partner, it was important to us that they embraced theentrepreneurial spirit of our group and shared our ambition to build aworld-beating specialist insurance business. I believe they will enhance ourentrepreneurial flair and ability so we will continue to attract and retain thevery best people. "3i's long established brand, global network and considerable managementexpertise, combined with its financial strength, will help us to achieve afaster pace of growth, organically, through acquisitions, and through start upoperations in new international markets. It allows us to restructure theexisting minority shareholdings in our subsidiaries, and delivers significantcash flow benefits to the group, increasing our access to further availablefunds." Gordon Hague 3i Partner joining the board of Hyperion added: "We at 3i GrowthCapital are thrilled to be backing Hyperion: a global success story and a leaderin the specialist insurance sector. We have been impressed with theentrepreneurialism and quality of people at every level. This is an outstandingmanagement team and we are confident that 3i can bring immense value based onour experience within the financial services sector and our track recordpartnering with ambitious businesses to drive growth globally. This investmentis typical of 3i Growth Capital's partnership style; equity rather than debt,full alignment of interests, an entrepreneur who retains control of thebusiness, with 3i bringing the value of our international network to support thenext phase of business growth." This builds on 3i Investment Plc's expertise in the financial services sector,with investments in Jelf Group, ACR, BestInvest, Fulcrum, KNEIP and Gain Capitalamongst others in the last 18 months. -ends- For further information: B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc www.bpmarsh.co.ukBrian Marsh OBE +44 (0)20 7730 2626 Nominated AdviserNabarro Wells & Co. LimitedDavid Nabarro/Marc Cramsie +44(0) 20 7710 7400 Redleaf Communications (PR to B.P. Marsh)Emma Kane/Tom Newman +44 (0)20 7822 0200 Notes to Editors: About B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc B.P. Marsh's current portfolio contains twelve companies. More detaileddescriptions of the portfolio can be found at www.bpmarsh.co.uk. Over the past 18 years, the Company has assembled a management team withconsiderable experience both in the financial services sector and in managingprivate equity investments. Many of the directors have worked with each other inprevious roles, and all have worked with each other for at least three and ahalf years. Prior to Brian Marsh's involvement in the Company, he spent many years ininsurance broking and underwriting in Lloyd's as well as the London and overseasmarket. He has over 30 years' experience in building, buying and sellingfinancial services businesses, particularly in the insurance sector. Francis de Zulueta is the Company's Development Director. With a wide-rangingknowledge of the financial services market, he seeks out, researches andevaluates potential new investments for B.P. Marsh. Following a 23-year brokingcareer with Willis Faber and Aon, among others, he took an active interest inthe mergers, acquisitions and venture capital business of Marsh McLennan. Jonathan Newman is the Group Director of Finance and has over 10 years'experience in the financial services industry. Jonathan advises investeecompanies through several non-executive board appointments and evaluates newinvestment opportunities. Robert King is a Director and Group Company Secretary. He joined B.P. Marsh inMay 2003 having started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Since joining B.P. Marsh he has taken on responsibility for the Group's legal, compliance andsecretarial functions and played a key role in the flotation of the Company. About Hyperion Established in 1994 and headquartered in the City of London, Hyperion InsuranceGroup is a fast expanding, independently owned insurance and underwritingcompany, specialising in worldwide liability and crime insurance and reinsuranceproducts and services. Comprising offices in 16 countries and employing over 500people, the Group was awarded a Queen's Award for Enterprise in InternationalTrade in April 2007. Hyperion has been ranked for the second year running in the 2008 Sunday TimesBuyout Track 100. It was also ranked 27th in the 2007 Insurance Times Top 50 UKBrokers league table and 13th in Post Magazine's 2007 Top 25 City Brokersreport. Hyperion is also backed by specialist private equity investor BP Marsh &Partners PLC which holds a 20% interest in the business, and Murofo InvestmentsSA which holds a 17% interest. www.hyperiongrp.com About 3i 3i is a world leader in private equity and venture capital. We focus onbuyouts, growth capital and venture capital and invest across Europe, in theUnited States and Asia. Our competitive advantage comes from our internationalnetwork and the strength and breadth of our relationships in business. Theseunderpin the value that we deliver to our portfolio and to our shareholders. 3i Growth Capital is the world's largest growth capital fund investing overUS$3bn every year in businesses across Europe, Asia and the US. We providefinancial and strategic support to established businesses with the potential foroutstanding value growth. We typically invest up to €250m in businesses to helpachieve growth ambitions, restructure shareholdings, release equity or changethe balance of equity to debt and are committed to working in partnership withmajority shareholders. 3i's recent investments include: Foster + Partners, UK; KNEIP, Luxembourg; DeltaHydrocarbons, Benelux; UFO Moviez, India; Electrawinds, Benelux; DNA, Finland;ACR, Singapore; Fulcrum, US; Giraffe, UK; Little Sheep, China; Sten, Spain andAdvanced Power, Switzerland. Recent successful realisations include GrandFrais, France; SeLoger.com, France; Alimak Hek, Sweden; Salamander Energy, UK;CH4 Energy, UK; Magix, Germany; Williams Lea, UK and Hayley Conference Centres,UK. www.3i.com - ends - This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange