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Princess Private Equity Holding Ltd18 March 2008 Guernsey, 18 March 2008 Princess partnership Bridgepoint Capital acquires Pret A Manger The Princess partnership Bridgepoint Capital acquired a majority stake in Pret AManger, the UK's leading retailer of good, natural and ready-to-eat sandwiches,salads and drinks, in a deal sized at EUR 528 million. Founded in 1986, Pret AManger has 200 shops primarily in the UK, with a small number of operations inthe US and in Hong Kong. In 2007, Pret A Manger had sales of GBP 223 million.The company exhibits the potential for significant rollout and Bridgepointexpects to transform Pret A Manger from a domestic to an international businessthrough controlled expansion primarily in the UK and in the US. The completionof the transaction is subject to normal regulatory clearances. Sandra Pajarola, Head of Partnership Investments at Partners Group, theinvestment advisor of Princess, commented: "While we see fewer very large buyouttransactions, there is still activity within the small and mid cap buyoutuniverse up to an enterprise value of EUR 600 million. The Pret A Manger is agood example of such a mid-market deal. The company is well positioned tocapitalize on food and customer lifestyle changes driven by the trend forpremium healthy eating." About Princess: Princess is an investment holding company founded in 1999 and domiciled inGuernsey that invests in private equity and private debt investments. TheCompany is advised in its investment activities by Partners Group, a globalalternative asset management firm listed on the SWX Swiss Exchange (tickersymbol: PGHN) with over CHF 24 billion assets under management in privateequity, private debt, private real estate, listed alternative strategies, hedgefunds and alternative beta strategies. Princess aims to provide shareholderswith long-term capital growth and an attractive dividend yield. Princess istraded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: PEY1) and on the LondonStock Exchange (ticker symbol: PEY). Further information:www.princess-privateequity.net Contacts: Princess Private Equity Holding Limited: Ken Ball General Manager Phone: +44 1481 730 946 [email protected] www.princess-privateequity.net Media enquiries and Partners Group: Tamara Krebs Communications Tel.: +41 41 768 85 26 [email protected] www.partnersgroup.net This document does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offerto buy or subscribe for any securities and neither is it intended to be aninvestment advertisement or sales instrument of Princess Private Equity HoldingLimited. The distribution of this document may be restricted by law in certainjurisdictions. Persons into whose possession this document comes must informthemselves about, and observe any such restrictions on the distribution of thisdocument. In particular, this document and the information contained therein isnot for distribution or publication, neither directly nor indirectly, in or intothe United States of America, Canada, Australia or Japan. This document may have been prepared using financial information contained inthe books and records of the product described herein as of the reporting date.This information is believed to be accurate but has not been audited by anythird party. This document may describe past performance, which may not beindicative of future results. The product does not accept any liability foractions taken on the basis of the information provided in this document. Issued and approved by Partners Group (UK) Ltd., authorised and regulated by theFinancial Services Authority in the United Kingdom. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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