10th Nov 2005 07:00
For immediate release 10th November 2005 Candover raises ¢â€š¬3.5 billion for 2005 Fund Candover*, a leading European buyout specialist, today announces the finalclosing of the Candover 2005 Fund with total commitments of ¢â€š¬3.5 billioncompared to its target of ¢â€š¬3.0 billion. The Fund was significantly oversubscribed beyond the hard cap of¢â€š¬3.5 billion.The 2005 Fund, which was raised in just over six months, has receivedcommitments from 106 investor groups worldwide, including Candover Investmentsplc, which has invested a total of ¢â€š¬500.0 million. Eighty per cent ofcommitments have come from existing investors including CalPERS, Canada PensionPlan, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, HarbourVest, Princeton University andfunds controlled by Standard Life. In addition, Candover has seen strongsupport from new investor groups such as Temasek**, Partners Group, SPF Beheerand Massachusetts PRIM.The 2005 Fund will follow a similar investment strategy to Candover's 2001Fund. It will seek to invest in mid-to-large buyouts across Europe, with aparticular emphasis on the UK, France, Germany, Benelux, Italy, Scandinavia andSpain. Since its formation in 1980, Candover has invested in over 125 buyoutswith an aggregate value of more than ¢â€š¬25.0 billion. Nearly 90% of these havebeen realised, resulting in an IRR of 33% over 25 years.Colin Buffin, Managing Director of Candover, commented:"We are pleased to have the support of our investors, who like us, see this asan exciting time for private equity. The European buyout market is on course toexceed ¢â€š¬100 billion in 2005, and the M&A pipeline looks good for 2006. With ourexperienced and cohesive team and disciplined investment approach, we are wellpositioned to continue delivering superior returns to our investors."Piers Dennison, Investor Relations Director, said"Private equity is now firmly established within global asset allocationstrategies, and our 25 year track record and top quartile fund returns havemeant that demand for the new Fund has been strong. We are very pleased to beworking with a number of new groups as well as our existing investor base, whoalready understand our strategy well. The 2005 Fund is open for business and weexpect to be busy in the coming months."Placement agents for the 2005 Fund were Benedetto, Gartland & Company, Inc, forNorth America, Konomi, Inc. for Japan and UBS AG for Rest of World. Legaladvisors were SJ Berwin LLP and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.Candover has raised eight previous funds and the closing of the 2005 Fundbrings the aggregate total of funds raised to date to ¢â€š¬8.7 billion. Theinvestment period of the ¢â€š¬2.7 billion Candover 2001 Fund was terminatedfollowing the funding of Gala's acquisition of Coral Eurobet in October 2005.The 2001 Fund has made 16 investments and has had a number of full and partialexits, including the sale of Swissport, the IPO of Aspen and therecapitalisations of Gala, Springer, Vetco and KDG. Together these havereturned more ¢â€š¬1.25 billion.* Candover means Candover Investments plc and/or one or more of itssubsidiaries, including Candover Partners Limited as General Partner of theCandover 2005 Fund** Temasek invested through its subsidiary Havelock Fund InvestmentsFor further information:CandoverColin Buffin, Managing Director +44 (0) 20 7489 9848Piers Dennison, Investor Relations DirectorTulchan CommunicationsJulie Foster / Peter Hewer +44 (0) 20 7353 4200Notes to Editors:CandoverCandover is a leading provider of equity for large European buyouts. Investmentin deals by Candover is provided in two forms, from Candover Investments plc, apublicly quoted investment trust, and from funds managed by Candover PartnersLimited, a wholly owned subsidiary.The Candover Group has three offices in London, Paris and Dƒ¼sseldorf, and alocal advisor in Madrid. Candover Partners Limited is authorised and regulatedby the Financial Services Authority in the UK.www.candover.comCandover Partners Limited 20 Old Bailey London EC4M 7LN Telephone +44 (0)207489 9848 Fax +44 (0)20 7248 5483e-mail info@candover .com www.candover.com Authorised and regulated by theFinancial Services Authority.ENDCANDOVER INVESTMENTS PLCRelated Shares:
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