10th Jan 2011 15:14
News Release
Guernsey, 10 January 2011
Princess achieves milestone in its strategic repositioning process
Princess Private Equity Holding Limited (Princess or the Company) is pleased to announce that it achieved a major milestone in its strategic repositioning process by signing purchase and sale agreements for its interests in nine buyout funds. The secondary sales were completed for an aggregate discount of 7.8% to the general partner valuations as of the transactions' respective cut-off dates. Overall, the completed secondary sales program will generate cash proceeds of approximately EUR 49.6 million, of which the Company already received EUR 28.9 million in December 2010 and EUR 12.0 million at the beginning of January 2011, with the remaining amount expected to be received over the coming weeks. The transactions will also release Princess of EUR 24.4 million in unfunded commitments as of 30 November 2010.
Furthermore, Princess benefited from particularly strong exit activity in December 2010 and received around EUR 16 million in distributions from realized portfolio companies and invested around EUR 11 million in new investment opportunities.
Princess plans to use the proceeds from the secondary sales program and the exited portfolio companies for the previously announced share buyback program, the resumption of dividend payments in the current year and attractive new direct investments going forward.
Urs Wietlisbach, member of Princess' Board of Directors and Executive Vice Chairman of Partners Group, the Investment Advisor, comments: "The completed secondary sales provided an opportunity to capitalize on the attractive pricing in the institutional secondary market for private equity funds. The secondary sales were completed at a significantly smaller discount to net asset value (NAV) than the current discount at which Princess' shares are trading. This underlines both the conservative valuation approach as well as the attraction of Princess as an investment opportunity in the current market. Furthermore, we believe that by buying back shares of the Company, resuming the long-term dividend policy and commencing a new direct investment program, Princess should be in a position to generate more attractive returns for shareholders than by holding onto the funds sold in the secondary sales program. Together with the strong realization activity in Princess' mature portfolio, we are confident that the strategic repositioning measures will create further value for Princess' shareholders."
The Company intends to further discuss the progress of its repositioning measures in its December 2010 monthly report, which is expected to be published on 24 January 2011, and in the quarterly results presentation conference call on 25 January 2011.
Ends.
About Princess
Princess is an investment holding company founded in 1999 and domiciled in Guernsey. It invests, inter alia, in private equity and private debt investments. Princess is advised in its investment activities by Partners Group AG, a global private markets investment management firm with over EUR 20 billion in investment programs under management in private equity, private debt, private real estate and private infrastructure. Princess aims to provide shareholders with long-term capital growth and an attractive dividend yield. Princess is traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: PEY1) and on the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: PEY). Further information: www.princess-privateequity.net
Contacts
Princess Private Equity Holding Limited:
www.princess-privateequity.net
Registered Number: 35241
Media enquiries:
Partners Group AG
Dr. Anna Hollmann
Communications
Tel.: +41 41 768 83 72
www.partnersgroup.com
This document does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for any securities and neither is it intended to be an investment advertisement or sales instrument of Princess Private Equity Holding Limited. The distribution of this document may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Persons into whose possession this document comes must inform themselves about, and observe any such restrictions on the distribution of this document. In particular, this document and the information contained therein is not for distribution or publication, neither directly nor indirectly, in or into the United States of America, Canada, Australia or Japan.
This document may have been prepared using financial information contained in the 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 any third party. This document may describe past performance, which may not be indicative of future results. No liability is accepted for any actions taken on the basis of the information provided in this document. Neither the contents of Princess' website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on Princess' website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.
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