Last checked at 
29 Sep 2010 09:19
Company J.P. Morgan Private Equity Limited
Headline Tender Offer
J.P. Morgan Private Equity Limited
Arnold House, St Julian's Avenue, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 3NF
29 September 2010
Regulatory News Service
London Stock Exchange
London
EC4M 7LS
Dear Sir,
J.P. MORGAN PRIVATE EQUITY LIMITED
J.P. Morgan Private Equity Limited ("JPEL" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a tender offer to purchase up to 3% of current Equity Shares, ZDP Shares and 2015 ZDP Shares, respectively outstanding (the "Shares"). Shares will be tendered at a price based on the prevailing net asset value (NAV) as at 31 December 2010.
"Offering the tender is a direct result of the Company's strong balance sheet and the recent increase in distribution activity from underlying investments" said Trevor Ash, JPEL's Chairman. "When distribution activity is sufficient we try to reward shareholders with the ability to periodically tender shares at NAV even when the stock price trades at a discount. JPEL is the only listed private equity fund to offer such a tender facility. Since its IPO in 2005, JPEL has returned over $112 million to shareholders through redemptions, tenders and market buy backs."
Although overall distribution activity has not returned to historical levels, the Company had strong net distributions of $15 million during the second of quarter of 2010. Given the Board of Director's confidence in the Company's balance sheet, it has decided to offer a tender in an amount approximately equal to this net cash flow amount.
JPEL remains focused on maintaining a strong balance sheet. As such, the future operation of the tender facility will be subject to various factors including positive distribution activity from the Company's underlying private equity investments and the overall health of the global economy. Therefore, JPEL's Board of Directors and the Manager will continue to monitor cash flows from JPEL's underlying investments in order to determine timing and appropriate levels for future tender offers. JPEL's Board of Directors continues to believe that its highest obligation during periods of economic uncertainty is to keep the Company healthy and strong for the future.
The terms and conditions of the tender offer and instructions on how shareholders may participate in the tender offer will be set forth in a Circular to be published in due course. The Company will hold Shares tendered in treasury, subject to compliance with all regulatory limits.
* * *
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. On 17 August 2009, JPEL issued warrants free of subscription cost to shareholders on record. The warrants are publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol "JPWW."
END