HgCapital Trust : announces an investment in Visma BPO

19 Sep 2016

HgCapital, the Manager of HgCapital Trust plc ('The Trust'), today announces an investment in Visma BPO, a leading provider of outsourced accounting services.Based in Oslo, Norway, the newly acquired company will sit within HgCapital's Services sector. The terms of this transaction were not disclosed.

HgCapital Trust plc will invest in Visma BPO alongside other institutional clients of HgCapital, who will participate through the HgCapital 7 Fund. The Trust, whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, gives private and institutional investors the opportunity to participate in all HgCapital's investments. The Trust will contribute a total of approximately £20.1 million, including £5.0 million in co-investment. This is the fifth co-investment made by the Trust into HgCapital portfolio companies over the past three years, enabling the Trust to invest without incurring fees or carried interest.

Following completion, the HgCapital 7 Fund will be approximately 76% invested.

Based on the 31 August 2016 reported NAV, the Trust's liquid resources available for future deployment, including all announced transactions, are estimated to be £51.8 million (9% of the pro-forma 31 August 2016 NAV). In addition, the Trust has access to a £40 million standby facility, which is currently undrawn. The transaction will reduce the Trust's outstanding commitments to invest in HgCapital deals to approximately £77 million (13% of the pro-forma 31 August 2016 NAV).

HgCapital announces an investment in Visma BPO

19 September 2016: HgCapital has announced today its acquisition of Visma BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), a leading provider of outsourced accounting services. Based in Oslo, Norway, the newly acquired company will sit within HgCapital's Services sector. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Visma BPO is currently owned by Visma, a Nordic accountancy software company which HgCapital owns alongside KKR, Cinven and the management team. The BPO business is being carved out and has been sold as part of an organised competitive sales process, following Visma's strategic decision to focus increasingly on its Software as a Service ('SaaS') offerings.

HgCapital has known Visma BPO for more than ten years, and this investment is in line with HgCapital's proven, sector-focused approach of investing in leading regulatory-driven businesses in and around the accounting and tax compliance space. The Company demonstrates many of the business model characteristics that HgCapital looks for, including: a high proportion of repeatable revenues; high customer loyalty; a fragmented customer base; and the opportunity to improve margins.

HgCapital's Services team has specific experience in successfully growing financial services BPOs, including Radius (USA, acquired in 2013) and ATC (Netherlands, acquired in 2011, sold in 2013).

Thorsten Toepfer, HgCapital said: 'We believe that this transaction will lead to significant advantages to both parties going forward. Visma BPO will continue its focus as a provider of complete SaaS solutions in the Nordics. HgCapital's proven sector experience has been pivotal in implementing this deal and we are pleased we can continue to develop Visma BPO as a Norwegian-based industry leader in Northern Europe.'

Øystein Moan, CEO Visma AS commented: 'We believe BPO can develop faster and better independently of Visma and we wish BPO every success in its next phase of growth.'

- Ends -

For further details:

HgCapital
Laura Dixon
+44 (0)20 7089 7888

Maitland
Tom Eckersley
+44 (0)20 7379 5151
Jamie Dunkley
+44 (0)20 7379 5151

About HgCapital Trust plc

HgCapital Trust plc is an investment trust whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: HGT.L). The Trust is a client of HgCapital, giving investors exposure to a portfolio of high-growth private companies, through a liquid vehicle. New investments and existing portfolio companies are managed by HgCapital, an experienced and well-resourced private equity firm with a long-term track record of delivering superior risk-adjusted returns for its investors. For further details, please see www.hgcapitaltrust.com.

Neither the contents of HgCapital Trust's, HgCapital's, or Visma's websites nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the websites (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

« Back to 2016