HgCapital Trust plc Regulatory News (HGT)

27 Apr 2007 16:02

HG Capital Trust PLC27 April 2007 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 DocMorris, HgCapital Trust plc, a listed investmenttrust giving investors the opportunity to participate in all of HgCapital'sinvestments, will realise a total of £5.1 million. The impact of the realisationon the net asset value of HgCapital Trust plc will be an increase ofapproximately 12.7p per share over the published 31st March 2007 net assetvalue. 3i, HgCapital and Neuhaus Partners sell DocMorris to Celesio Frankfurt/Main, April 27, 2007. The European private equity companies 3i andHgCapital along with venture-capital investor Neuhaus Partners are selling theirstakes in mail-order pharmacy DocMorris, domiciled in Heerlen in the Netherlands. The buyer is Celesio AG, Europe's largest pharmaceutical distributor, whichwill become the majority shareholder in DocMorris. The company's management willcontinue to hold a stake of just under 10 per cent in DocMorris. The transactionis expected to close at the end of May. The purchase price is being keptconfidential. In recent years, the financial investors together with the DocMorris managementteam have made focused investments to accelerate the company's growth. Inparticular, they supported DocMorris in expanding its business model from a puremail-order business to include pharmacy business. Today, DocMorris has around850,000 mail order customers. The company, which has 330 employees achieved a 16per cent rise in sales last year to €172 million; further strong growth in 2007is expected. Thus, within the space of only seven years since start-up,DocMorris has become an established player in the pharmaceutical sector. Achim Lederle, Partner at 3i Germany, comments: "We are very happy thatDocMorris will continue its outstanding development with Celesio as the newpartner. In the years of our involvement, we made certain our network was at thedisposal of the DocMorris management and, as an active supervisory board member,we set the strategic course. DocMorris played an important role in therestructuring of the pharmaceutical market, and in so doing advanced thedevelopment of an entire sector." Philipp Schwalber of HgCapital explains: "DocMorris was a highly successfulinvestment for HgCapital. In recent years the company has performed superbly andachieved all its targets. DocMorris has established an excellent launch pad foritself ready for the forthcoming deregulation of the German pharmaceuticalmarket. With Celesio as a strong strategic partner at its side, the company hasbright prospects, and the course for the future is set." Gottfried Neuhaus of Neuhaus Partners says: "As a founding investor we have beenactively involved in DocMorris' history from its beginnings through to today. Weare pleased that in Celesio we have found a buyer who will provide the nextboost to DocMorris growth and together with the outstanding management team willcontinue the company's success story." For further details: 3i Deutschland Gesellschaft fur Industriebeteiligungen mbH Christiane L. Dohler +49 (0)89 54862-220 Citigate Dewe Rogerson GmbH +49 (0)69 90500-150Matthias Link About 3i 3i is a leading global private equity company for majority and minority holdingsin medium-sized companies. In addition to furnishing equity, 3i also offers itsportfolio companies wide-ranging know-how and access to the broad international3i network. Alongside its core business, namely medium-sized buyouts, growth andinfrastructure financing, 3i is also active in the venture capital market, withselective start-up and seed capital financing. 3i sees itself as the partner ofthe portfolio companies and focuses its activities on the partners' mutualsuccess. 3i is represented in 14 countries on three continents (Europe, Asia and NorthAmerica). Last business year, the 3i Group invested about • 1.4 billion. For further details, click www.3i.com. HgCapital Philipp Schwalber +44 20 7089 7920 HERING SCHUPPENER Consulting +49 (0)69 921874-76Georg Jakobs About HgCapital HgCapital is a private-equity investor in the European mid-market. We focus oninvestments with an enterprise value in the range of • 50-500 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 most respected institutional and privateinvestors. Our goal is to achieve outstanding results for our investors,management team and intermediaries. For further details, click www.hgcapital.com. Neuhaus Partners Dr. Gottfried Neuhaus +49 (40) 355 28 2 - 0 Dr. Pablo Fetter +49 (40) 355 28 2 - 0 About Neuhaus Partners: Neuhaus Partners GmbH (formerly Dr. Neuhaus Techno Nord), based in Hamburg, wasfounded in 1997 by Dr. Gottfried Neuhaus and is one of Germany's leadingindependent venture capital corporations. It invests throughout Europe intechnology companies. Since its foundation, it has acquired a total of 36stakes, among others in mobile telephony provider blau.de - in 34 of thecompanies Neuhaus Partners entered as the lead investor. Track Record: Two IPOs,15 trade sales, two buy-backs, nine insolvencies. At present, Neuhaus Partnersis in the fundraising process for a new • 100 million technology fund. Firstclosing for this new fund "Neuhaus III" was in December 2006. For further details on Neuhaus Partners visit www.NeuhausPartners.com About DocMorris Doc Morris is Germany's best known pharmaceutical brand and at the same timeEurope's biggest mail-order pharmacy with sales of €172 million in 2006. Theheadquarters of the company is situated in Heerlen in the Netherlands. About 330people work there on the success of the Doc Morris network. In 2006 Doc Morrishas set up a branch in its primary market Germany in Saarbrucken. Since 2007,Doc Morris cooperates nationwide with on-site pharmacies. Until April, already20 pharmacies from 7 federal states have entered a brand partnership. Doc Morrisplans to win 500 pharmacies as cooperation partners throughout the next 3 to 5years. For further details on DocMorris please visit www.docmorris.de. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange