Investment in HCIG

RNS Number : 0678Y

Graphite Enterprise Trust PLC

26 November 2014

 



26 November 2014

GRAPHITE ENTERPRISE TRUST PLC

ACQUISITION OF HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENT GROUP

Graphite Enterprise Trust PLC ("the Company") is pleased to report the third investment by Graphite Capital Partners VIII ("Graphite VIII"), in which the Company is an investor.

Graphite VIII, a fund managed by Graphite Capital, has backed the management buy-out of Human Capital Investment Group ("HCIG"), a provider of recruitment services to a range of specialist areas within the public and private sectors in the UK. The Company has invested
£8.7 million in HCIG through Graphite VIII. This represents 2.2% of the value of the Company's portfolio as at 31 July 2014. HCIG is now one of the Company's five largest underlying investments.

About HCIG

HCIG is a fast growing, diversified recruitment company serving a range of specialist areas within the public and private sectors in the UK. It trades under a number of brands focused on health and social care, social housing, construction and infrastructure, and engineering. Its leading brands include Eden Brown, Caritas, Synergy, Proactive, ewi and Resourcing Group.

Founded in 2007, HCIG has expanded rapidly through a combination of acquisitions and new brand launches. It has 14 offices in the UK and employs 510 staff. In the twelve months to September 2014, HCIG's revenues grew by 28 per cent to £217 million.

HCIG has a high quality and diversified customer base of over 3,000 organisations, with the majority of its placements being long-term. This breadth and stability provides an excellent platform for continued growth in its large and attractive target markets.

NOTES

Graphite Enterprise Trust PLC

Graphite Enterprise aims to provide shareholders with long term capital growth through investment in unquoted companies. To achieve this, the Company invests in private equity funds and also directly in private companies.

The Company has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1981 and has invested exclusively in private equity and has had the same manager throughout its life.

Graphite Enterprise provides access to a diverse portfolio of buy-outs of mature, profitable companies in established European private equity markets. The Company invests in UK-based mid-market companies through funds managed directly by Graphite Capital. Typically these will make up 20-25% of the portfolio. Investments in other UK companies and in other European markets are made through funds managed by third parties. The Company does not invest in start ups or early stage businesses.

Shareholders of Graphite Enterprise gain exposure to a diverse portfolio of buy-outs of mature, profitable companies in established European private equity markets, with over 350 underlying companies. Graphite Capital directly manages many of the largest companies in the portfolio.

Since inception, the Company has increased the amount of capital raised over 28 times.

www.graphite-enterprise.com 

Graphite Capital

Graphite Capital is one of the UK's leading mid-market private equity firms with over £1.4 billion of funds under management. It has raised and managed funds for 33 years. The senior management team has worked together for 17 years.

Graphite Capital manages both direct investments in portfolio companies and private equity fund investments.

Direct investments are predominantly made through institutional funds with a global investor base. The focus of direct investments is on UK mid-market buy-outs of companies valued at between £25 million and £200 million across a range of industry sectors.

Fund investments are made exclusively by Graphite Enterprise. Fund investments focus principally on European buy-out funds. The investment strategy is to back private equity managers with strong track records operating in mature markets, with the aim of building long term relationships.

As Graphite Capital has a long experience both of managing its own funds and of investing in third party funds, it has an unusually broad perspective when assessing fund and co-investment opportunities. Graphite Enterprise benefits from both the expertise of a dedicated fund investment team as well as the insights of Graphite Capital's direct investment team.

www.graphitecapital.com 

 

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