Jpel Priv Eqty Regulatory News (JPEL)

13 Aug 2009 08:30



J.P. Morgan Private Equity Exceeds Fundraising Target 

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GUERNSEY, 13 AUGUST 2009 

J.P. Morgan Private Equity Limited ("JPEL" or the "Company"), the London Stock Exchange listed private equity secondary fund, announces that it has exceeded the Company's initial fundraising target by over 50%.  Through a series of closings in July and August, JPEL has raised over $75 million.   

"We believe that the overwhelming support for the fundraising from our existing shareholders and new JPEL investors is a vote of confidence for opportunities available in the secondary private equity market," said JPEL Chairman Trevor Ash. "Most of this capital was raised at a premium to the stock price while the JPEL share price rebounded by 30.6% in the quarter ending June 30th, further demonstrating the market's faith in our strategy." 

"We started meeting with existing and potential new shareholders in June, with an initial fundraising target of $50 million. With current funds raised at over $75 million, JPEL has received a strong response from investors." said Gregory Getschow, JPEL's portfolio manager. "We now have significant fresh capital to invest, and intend to use it in a way to drive NAV growth."

"We look forward to investing in what we hope to be accretive secondary investments that generate value for our shareholders." commented Troy Duncan, JPEL's portfolio manager. "We believe that the current market for secondary private equity investments represents a significant opportunity for JPEL to deploy capital at favourable valuations."

JPEL closed at $1.01 per US$ Equity Share on 11 August 2009, representing a 24.6% discount to 30 June 2009 NAV, approximately 25 percentage points narrower than the average discount of 50% experienced by its peer group of listed private equity fund of funds.

JPEL's primary strategy is to acquire secondary market portfolios of direct fund investments, significantly invested partnership interests and partially drawn commitments, in order to accelerate NAV development. JPEL employs an opportunistic, deep value private equity investment strategy and focuses on value-oriented investments with potential for early return of capital. From inception through 30 June 2009, JPEL's NAV per US$ Equity Share has grown 31.4% from $1.02 at inception versus declines of 22.8%, 16.1% and 58.3% in the S&P 500, MSCI World Index (USD)  and LPX indices, respectively.

The Company has also announced that it will issue warrants free of subscription cost to shareholders on record as at 17 August 2009. One warrant will be issued for every six US$ Equity Shares owned. The warrants will be publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, subject to all regulatory approvals and the strike price will be based on the Company's unaudited estimated 30 June 2009 NAV per US$ Equity Share plus a premium.

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About J.P. Morgan Private Equity Limited 

J.P. Morgan Private Equity Limited is a Guernsey registered and incorporated, London Stock Exchange-listed, closed-ended investment company (LSE: JPEL, JPEZ, JPZZ) designed primarily to invest in the global private equity market. The investment objective of the Company is to achieve both short and long-term capital appreciation by investing in a well diversified portfolio of private equity fund interests and by capitalising on the inefficiencies of the secondary private equity market.  The Company's capital structure consists of three classes of shares: Equity Shares and two classes of Zero Dividend Preference Shares due 2013 and 2015, respectively.

Applications have been made to the UK Listing Authority for the Warrants to be admitted to the Official List and to the London Stock Exchange for the Warrants to be admitted to trading on its main market under the symbol "JPWW".

J.P. Morgan Private Equity Limited

Troy Duncan / Gregory Getschow

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7742 3032 / +1 212 648 1150

Peregrine Communications

Anthony Payne / Paul Mungo

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 3178 6869 / +44 (0)20 7822 2307