HgCapital Trust plc Regulatory News (HGT)

11 Jul 2005 10:50

HG Capital Trust PLC11 July 2005 The following is the text of a press release issued by HgCapital, which managesthe investment portfolio of HgCapital Trust plc alongside those of otherclients. The Trust, which participates in all of HgCapital's investments, willinvest £3.8 million in The Sanctuary Spa Covent Garden. Alice Avis appointed as CEO of The Sanctuary Spa London 11 July 2005. HgCapital, the European sector-focused private equityinvestor, announces that Alice Avis, former Director of Marketing of Marks &Spencer, has been appointed CEO of The Sanctuary Spa Holdings Limited ("TheSanctuary Spa"). At the same time, through a transaction with a total value of £24m, HgCapitalhas bought out some minority shareholders and funded the acquisition of TheSanctuary Spa's products business. Debt facilities have been provided by HSBCBank. The Sanctuary Spa's beauty products, branded "The Sanctuary Spa Covent Garden",were previously manufactured under license by a third party business, TheSanctuary Connections Limited. The products are sold through Boots The Chemistand The Sanctuary Spa. The annual sales of Sanctuary Spa products are some £30million at retail prices. The acquisition of this business will bring control ofthe product portfolio directly back to The Sanctuary Spa management teamenabling The Sanctuary Spa to capitalise on its credentials as the UK's leadingwomen only day spa. Alice Avis has been a Non-Executive Director of The Sanctuary Spa since 2001.Her career background as Director of Marketing at Marks and Spencer, MarketingDirector of Flutter.com and Global Brand Director of Diageo combines strongmarketing experience and a successful track record in building internationalbrands together with experience in advertising, strategy consulting ande-commerce. As a Non-Executive Director, Alice has already built a deep understanding of TheSanctuary Spa and of its growth potential. Alice's remit is to grow the productsbusiness by building on its unique link to the physical spa. As a productcategory, spa is one of the fastest growing segments of the beauty productsmarket. Alice will also undertake a review of the spa business with a focus onpotential expansion opportunities. Richard Mathews, a director in HgCapital's consumer team, who will also join theboard of The Sanctuary Spa, commented: "This is an exciting investment opportunity for HgCapital. Our focus in theconsumer team is in backing excellent management to grow strong consumer brandswith distinct product offerings. The Sanctuary Spa clearly meets thesecriteria." Alice Avis, The Sanctuary Spa's new CEO added: "This is an exciting time for the business. I am very much looking forward tobuilding on The Sanctuary Spa's famous brand by expanding both the productsbusiness and the spa. We have a real opportunity to capitalise on the genuineheritage and loyalty inspired by the Sanctuary Spa brand." Enquiries: HgCapital Richard Mathews +44 (0)20 7089 7931 richard.mathews@hgcapital.net The Sanctuary Spa Group Alice Avis +44 (0) 7831 815012 Alice.Avis@thesanctuary.co.uk Maitland Suzanne Bartch +44 (0)20 7379 5151 sbartch@maitland.co.ukPeter Ogden pogden@maitland.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange