HgCapital Trust plc Regulatory News (HGT)

3 Jun 2005 10:11

HG Capital Trust PLC03 June 2005 The following is the text from a press release issued by HgCapital, whichmanages the investment portfolio of HgCapital Trust plc alongside those of otherclients. The trust, which participates in all of HgCapital's investments, willinvest €6.9 million in Addison Software and Service GmbH. HgCapital agrees to acquire Addison Software in €78 million management buy-out HgCapital's fifth mid-market acquisition in Germany since 2003 London, 03 June 2005. HgCapital, a leading sector-focused European mid-marketprivate equity investor, today signed an agreement to lead the managementbuy-out of Addison Software and Service GmbH. The acquisition, which values thecompany at €78 million, is expected to close later this month, subject toregulatory approval. The transaction reinforces HgCapital's position as one ofthe most active private equity investors in mid-range accounting software inEurope in the past two years. Addison is a leading, privately-owned German application software company thatprovides business-critical solutions to two related markets - tax accountantsand SMEs. It develops, licenses and manages standard and sector specificsoftware for bookkeeping, accounts production, tax, cost accounting, payrolladministration and "controlling". The company, which was founded in 1921 aspart of Taylorix, has 13 sales centres across Germany and employs 280 staff. Karsten Hartmann, a director in HgCapital's Frankfurt office, said: "Theacquisition of Addison arose as a result of a direct approach by HgCapital andunderlines the importance of our sector-focused strategy in identifyinginvestment targets. It is HgCapital's third technology buy-out in Europe withinthe last 13 months and its fifth acquisition in the German market since 2003.We have been active in Germany since 1999 and the German mid-market remainscentral to HgCapital's future investment strategy." Richard Donner, a director in the technology team at HgCapital, commented: "Addison has excellent management, high-quality products and services and aninteresting competitive position with very promising prospects for growth. Theexperience we have acquired in the organic and acquisitive expansion of IRISSoftware, a comparable company operating primarily in the UK, places HgCapitalin an excellent position to drive growth and develop further Addison'scompetitive positioning." Addison CEO, Dr Michael Rochner, said: "In HgCapital the management of Addisonhas found the ideal partner to take the company to a new phase of ambitiousgrowth, providing us with the capital necessary to improve further the marketingand development of products and services. We welcome the knowledge thatHgCapital will be able to apply to Addison, which will significantly increaseour competitive advantage." Debt facilities were arranged and fully underwritten by NIB Capital Bank N.V.PricewaterhouseCoopers acted as lead corporate finance advisor and LinklatersOppenhoff & Radler as legal advisor to HgCapital on this transaction. - ends - For further information contact: HgCapital Richard Donner +44 (0)20 7089 7913 richard.donner@hgcapital.net Karsten Hartmann +49 (0)69 2470 3717 karsten.hartmann@hgcapital.net Addison Software and Service GmbH Dr Michael Rochner +49 (0)71 41 914 62 mroechner@addison.de Maitland Neil Bennett +44 (0)20 7379 5151 nbennett@maitland.co.uk Peter Ogden pogden@maitland.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange