Last checked at 
9 Sep 2010 15:00
9 September 2010
LMS Capital plc - Investor/Analyst Meeting and Deal Update
LMS Capital plc today held a meeting for investors and analysts setting out the Board's medium term strategy for the business, including presentations on certain investee companies. The slide presentation is available on LMS Capital's website, www.lmscapital.com.
In addition, the Company is pleased to announce the following:
San Francisco Equity Partners Acquires Zoom Eyeworks
San Francisco Equity Partners ("SFEP"), the private equity firm in which LMS Capital is the majority partner, has acquired Zoom Eyeworks, Inc. a leading designer of innovative, expressive eyewear products. The change in ownership provides Zoom Eyeworks with the financial and strategic resources to capitalise on the growing demand for its brands.
Based in Berkeley, CA, Zoom is one of the largest providers of non-prescription reading glasses in the U.S., with a product portfolio consisting of reading glasses, sunglasses and accessories. Zoom's brands, which include Zoom, Dr. Dean Edell and ICU, are sold in approximately 15,000 locations throughout the drug, food, convenience and speciality retail channels. Zoom's products emphasize fashion, style and quality and offer a wide range of alternatives to traditional reading glasses for every occasion. ICU is one of the fastest-growing and best-known brands of fashion reading eyewear in the U.S. and has received Oprah Magazine's "O" pick multiple times. For more information please visit www.zoomeyeworks.com.
SFEP has already built pre-eminent consumer brands including Method Products, the world's most innovative natural homecare brand, and Yes To, the industry's fastest-growing natural personal care brand.
Further details about the acquisition, and SFEP, are available at www.sfequitypartners.com.
Glenn Payne, Chief Executive Officer of LMS Capital, said:
"SFEP has a great track record of building companies and turning what are perceived as consumer products into unique brands that drive considerable mass market appeal. With SFEP's guidance, industry relationships and financial resources, we foresee a very bright future for Zoom."
For further information please contact:
LMS Capital plc 020 7935 3555Glenn Payne, Chief Executive OfficerTony Sweet, Chief Financial OfficerBrunswick Group LLP 020 7404 5959Simon SporborgLeonora BurtenshawAbout LMS Capital
LMS Capital is an investment company with over 30 years' experience in private equity and development capital investment. Our objective is to deliver superior absolute returns for shareholders through a portfolio of direct investments; our focus is on small to medium sized companies in our preferred sectors of consumer and media, energy & utilities and applied technology, software & services.
We seek to partner with experienced managers in profitable, growing companies where we expect to be able to add value. Our focus is on buying and investing in management teams and companies at favourable prices: on the assumption of gradual economic improvement our outlook is positive on the investment environment and we expect M&A activity to increase accordingly. We will continue to be cautious in our investment approach, aiming to grow our investments (and NAV) by 15%+ per annum without undue risk or investing in unproven businesses.
The Company has a 30 year history and a new investment team; this history means it has a portfolio at 30 June 2010 valued at £230.3 million, most of which we expect to realise in cash in the medium term. This harvesting of our legacy investments should produce the capital required to finance a number of new direct deals over the next five years.
Our recent deal experience has confirmed to us that potential partners place great store on working with people who not only understand their business (typically through previous deals in the same sector) but also have themselves worked in operational management positions and who therefore understand and empathise with the role of management in a business partnership. All members of our investment team have prior experience as part of an operational management team.
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