HgCapital Trust plc Regulatory News (HGT)

6 Jul 2006 07:01

HG Capital Trust PLC06 July 2006 HgCapital Trust plc 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. On completion of the sale of Castlebeck, HgCapital Trust plc, a listedinvestment trust giving investors the opportunity to participate in all ofHgCapital's investments, will realise a total of £23.1 million. The impact ofthe realisation on the net asset value of HgCapital Trust plc would be anincrease of approximately 72p per share over the published 31st May 2006 netasset value. HgCapital sells Castlebeck for £255 million London, 6th July 2006. HgCapital, the European sector-focused private equityinvestor, today announced the sale of Castlebeck to Castle Holdings Limited, aJersey-registered company associated with Barchester Healthcare group, theleading quality private healthcare provider. Castlebeck is the UK's leading independent provider of specialist healthcare andrehabilitation services for adults and adolescents with learning disabilitiesand challenging behaviour. It operates 17 specialist hospitals and care homesacross England and Scotland. HgCapital recognized the potential of this type of residential patient care whenit completed the secondary buy-out of Castlebeck from 3i in July 2002. Followingthe recruitment of a new senior management team led by David Cole, an ambitiousinvestment programme has been undertaken: • More than £30m has been invested in new hospital facilities across the UK • Nearly 100 additional beds have been commissioned which meet the very best care standards • A pioneering service for adults with autism and challenging behaviour has been established • Three homes for young people have been opened under the Young Foundations brand • Standards of clinical care have been strengthened by investing in a team of 15 psychiatrists and psychologists The company is continuing with its expansion plans to meet the needs of patientsand healthcare providers across the UK and has a pipeline of properties indevelopment. The sale of Castlebeck is HgCapital's fifth healthcare transaction in under 18months totalling over £1 billion. It further demonstrates the leading expertiseHgCapital has developed through its sector-specialist approach to privateequity. Lindsay Dibden, Partner of HgCapital and Head of the Healthcare team commented: "Castlebeck demonstrates what is possible when you consolidate ten years ofsector knowledge with a culture of hard work and a talented management team.This combination has delivered five fold value growth under our ownership. Weare selling a very strong business to Castle Holdings which has expressed itscommitment to enhancing the high quality of specialist services provided andsupporting the existing management in their next phase of growth." The sale of Castlebeck follows the recent £322 million acquisition of ParagonHealthcare, the leading provider of speciality community-based residential carefor people with learning disabilities and the sale of PBR to PRA Internationalfor £58 million. In addition ClinPhone, another HgCapital investment in thehealthcare sector, also recently completed its successful IPO on the LondonStock Exchange at a value of £94 million. HgCapital was advised by NM Rothschild (advisory), Linklaters (legal), Deloitte(financial), PricewaterhouseCoopers (commercial) and GVA Grimley (property).Management were advised by Walker Morris (legal), Jamieson Corporate Finance(advisory) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (taxation). HgCapital's recent transactions in the healthcare sector include: June 2006: IPO of ClinPhone - market capitalisation of £94 million June 2006: Sale of Pharma Bio-Research BV (PBR) to PRA International for £58 million April 2006: £322 million MBO of Paragon Healthcare March 2006: £30 million recapitalisation of Castlebeck September 2005: Sale of Tunstall for £220 million March 2005: £73 million recapitalisation of Castlebeck Enquiries HgCapitalLindsay Dibden +44 (0)20 7089 7980 MaitlandSuzanne Bartch +44 (0)20 7379 5151 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange