HgCapital Trust plc Regulatory News (HGT)

19 Sep 2007 07:01

HG Capital Trust PLC19 September 2007 HgCapital acquires Mondo Minerals 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. The Trust, which is a listed investment trust givinginvestors the opportunity to participate in all of HgCapital's investments, willinvest approximately €10.0 million (£6.8 million) in Mondo Minerals. London, 19th September 2007: HgCapital, a leading European mid-market privateequity firm, is acquiring Mondo Minerals, one of the world's largest talc mininggroups, from Omya, the international white minerals group, in a move to continueMondo's expansion. Mondo is one of the world's leading companies in talc mining and processing withrevenues of approximately €130 million in 2006. It was created in 1998 as amerger of Norwegian, Finnish and Dutch talc mining companies. Talc is a highquality base chemical with multiple applications in key industries and Mondo hassecure reserves of raw materials for the next 40 years. Mondo's customers areactive in a variety of European industries including paper, paint, plastics, andceramics. The group has operations in 2 countries and supplies clients in morethan 50 countries. Martin Block, Partner at HgCapital, commented: "Mondo is a well-established,market-leading producer of talc in Europe. Together with the present managementteam and staff, our intention is to support further growth and expansion ofMondo's activities and to continue to develop products and services to meet theneeds of existing and future customers. We are looking forward to the next phaseof Mondo's development." Wulf-Dietrich Keller, CEO of Mondo Minerals, commented: "I view the newownership as an opportunity for Mondo to realise its full potential byestablishing itself as a truly global talc supplier. Mondo's management teamplans to expand into high growth markets, based on its own secure raw materialresources, building on its strong market base in Europe. The change in ownershipis expected to improve Mondo's capability to pursue strategic aquisitions inlocations and markets not currently covered." The transaction is subject to approval and is expected to close by October 31,2007. Contacts:HgCapital LondonJoachim Drees, Director Tel: +44 20 7089 7940 MaitlandPeter Ogden Tel: +44 20 7379 5151 HgCapital MunichDr Karsten Hartmann, Tel: +49 89 25 54 95 517 Hering-Schuppener ConsultingGeorg Jakobs/Dennis Bader Tel: +49 69 9218 7476 Mondo MineralsWulf-Dietrich Keller Tel: +49 6056 91560 About the companies: HgCapital:HgCapital is a private-equity investor in the European mid-market. We focus oninvestments with an enterprise value in the range of €75-500 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. Mondo Minerals:Mondo Minerals is one of Europe's major talc producers with an annual productionof some 650,000 tonnes. It mines talc from its own quarries in Finland andprocesses its product range at its plants in Sotkamo, Vuonos and Kaavi. It alsohas a processing plant in Amsterdam and a slurry makedown plant at Katwijk (NL).In 2006, Mondo Minerals undertook the biggest investment project in its history,increasing finegrinding capacity at the Sotkamo plant to 330,000 tpa, making itthe biggest single talc production facility in the world. The Amsterdam plantwas equipped with new jet-mills, bringing the capacity up to 100,000 tons. Totalcapacity at Mondo Minerals is now 760,000 tpa, and a turnover of €130 million isachieved by less than 200 employees. Mondo Minerals celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2007 Further information on Mondo Minerals can be found at www.mondominerals.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange