Notice of Changes to Board & Investment Committee

HarbourVest Global Priv. Equity Ltd

01 February 2024

 

 

1 February 2024

HARBOURVEST GLOBAL PRIVATE EQUITY LIMITED

("HVPE" or the "Company")

Notice of changes to HVPE Board and Investment Committee composition

·    HVPE to have fully independent Board from July 2024 AGM

·    HarbourVest Managing Directors Carolina Espinal and Richard Hickman to join HVPE Investment Committee

HVPE, a FTSE 250 investment company with global exposure to private companies, managed by HarbourVest Partners, today announces two changes to its governance structure.

Board composition

The Board and Investment Manager have noted the feedback received from shareholders and other stakeholders in recent months. Alongside today's announcement of a new distribution policy, the Board is pleased to announce that from the July 2024 AGM, all directors will be fully independent of the Investment Manager. HarbourVest Managing Director Carolina Espinal, who has served as a Non-Executive Director on the HVPE Board since July 2019, has decided not to stand for re-election in July 2024. The HVPE Chair and Board are grateful to Carolina for her valuable contribution over the last several years.

Investment Committee membership

While Carolina's role as a Non-Executive Director will come to an end, the HVPE Board is pleased that she has undertaken to continue to support HVPE by means of being a non-voting participant at relevant Board meetings alongside fellow HarbourVest Managing Director Richard Hickman. Furthermore, both Carolina and Richard, with effect from 1 February 2024, will join the HVPE Investment Committee as full members alongside the two existing members: HarbourVest Managing Director and Executive Management Committee member John Toomey, and HarbourVest Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer Greg Stento.

Conclusion

The HVPE Board and Investment Manager believe strongly that these measures represent further improvements to the established corporate governance and investment decision-making structures which have served HVPE well. In the ten years to 31 December 2023, HVPE has delivered a share price total return of 273% in sterling, equivalent to 14% on an annualised basis, as reported in the recent estimated NAV per share monthly update.

Ed Warner, Chair of HVPE, commented:

"Together with the new distribution policy announced separately today, these changes represent a comprehensive package of measures taken in response to recent shareholder feedback. Board independence is an increasingly important area of focus for investors and I am confident that HVPE will be viewed as having adopted best practice in this regard.

"HVPE's investment process will be strengthened by the inclusion of Carolina and Richard as full members of the HVPE Investment Committee. The Board will continue to benefit from Carolina's knowledge and expertise as Head of European Primary investing at HarbourVest, and welcomes the prospect of an increased level of input from Richard at the decision-making level, given the considerable specialised experience he has gained during almost ten years at HarbourVest, focusing on HVPE. Continued active engagement between the Board and the expanded HVPE Investment Committee will ensure that HVPE benefits further from the combined skills and experience of the four Committee members across the public and private markets, with a view to securing the best possible outcome for shareholders over the long term."

- ENDS -

LEI: 213800NBWV6WWV8TOL46

Enquiries:

Shareholders
Richard Hickman	Tel: [phone]	[e-mail]
Media
HarbourVest Partners
Lily Cabianca	Tel: [phone]	[e-mail]
MHP
Charlie Barker / Robert Collett-Creedy	Tel: [phone]	[e-mail]

Notes to Editors:

About HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited:

HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited ("HVPE" or the "Company") is a Guernsey-incorporated, closed-end investment company which is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 index. HVPE is designed to offer shareholders long-term capital appreciation by investing in a private equity portfolio diversified by geography, stage of investment, vintage year, and industry. The Company invests in and alongside HarbourVest-managed funds which focus on primary fund commitments, secondary investments and direct co-investments in operating companies. HVPE's investment manager is HarbourVest Advisers L.P., an affiliate of HarbourVest Partners, LLC, an independent, global private markets asset manager with over 40 years of experience.

About HarbourVest Partners, LLC:

HarbourVest is an independent, global private markets firm with 40 years of experience and more than $117 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2023. Our interwoven platform provides clients access to global primary funds, secondary transactions, direct co-investments, real assets and infrastructure, and private credit. Our strengths extend across strategies, enabled by our team of more than 1,000 employees, including more than 200 investment professionals across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Across our private markets platform, our team has committed more than $58 billion to newly-formed funds, completed over $50 billion in secondary purchases, and invested over $37 billion in directly operating companies. We partner strategically and plan our offerings innovatively to provide our clients with access, insight, and global opportunities. 

This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute or form part of any offer to issue or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for, any securities in any jurisdiction and should not be relied upon in connection with any decision to subscribe for or acquire any Shares.  In particular, this announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer to issue or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for, any securities in the United States or to US Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("US Persons")).  Neither this announcement nor any copy of it may be taken, released, published or distributed, directly or indirectly to US Persons or in or into the United States (including its territories and possessions), Canada, Australia or Japan, or any jurisdiction where such action would be unlawful. Accordingly, recipients represent that they are able to receive this announcement without contravention of any applicable legal or regulatory restrictions in the jurisdiction in which they reside or conduct business. No recipient may distribute, or make available, this announcement (directly or indirectly) to any other person. Recipients of this announcement should inform themselves about and observe any applicable legal requirements in their jurisdictions.

The Shares have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States and, accordingly, may not be offered, sold, resold, transferred, delivered or distributed, directly or indirectly, within the United States or to US Persons.  In addition, the Company is not registered under the US Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "Investment Company Act") and shareholders of the Company will not have the protections of that act.  There will be no public offer of the Shares in the United States or to US Persons.

This announcement has been prepared by the Company and its investment manager, HarbourVest Advisers L.P. (the "Investment Manager"). No liability whatsoever (whether in negligence or otherwise) arising directly or indirectly from the use of this announcement is accepted and no representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, is or will be made by the Company, the Investment Manager or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, advisers, representatives or other agents ("Agents") for any information or any of the opinions contained herein or for any errors, omissions or misstatements. None of the Investment Manager nor any of their respective Agents makes or has been authorised to make any representation or warranties (express or implied) in relation to the Company or as to the truth, accuracy or completeness of this announcement, or any other written or oral statement provided. In particular, no representation or warranty is given as to the achievement or reasonableness of, and no reliance should be placed on any projections, targets, estimates or forecasts contained in this announcement and nothing in this announcement is or should be relied on as a promise or representation as to the future.

Other than as required by applicable laws, the Company gives no undertaking to update this announcement or any additional information, or to correct any inaccuracies in it which may become apparent and the distribution of this announcement. The information contained in this announcement is given at the date of its publication and is subject to updating, revision and amendment. The contents of this announcement have not been approved by any competent regulatory or supervisory authority.

This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward looking statements".  These forward looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "projects", "estimates", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "goal", "target", "aim", "may", "will", "would", "could", "should" or "continue" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts and include statements regarding the intentions, beliefs or current expectations of the Company.  By their nature, forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future and may be beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. Forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. More detailed information on the potential factors which could affect the financial results of the Company is contained in the Company's public filings and reports.

All investments are subject to risk. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Prospective investors are advised to seek expert legal, financial, tax and other professional advice before making any investment decision. The value of investments may fluctuate. Results achieved in the past are no guarantee of future results.

This announcement is issued by the Company, whose registered address is BNP Paribas House, St Julian's Avenue, St Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 1WA

© 2024 HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited. All rights reserved.

 

END