J Hirsch & Co closes ILP III on EUR270m

01 September 2008

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Fund

J Hirsch & Co closed its new fund ILP III on EUR270m. This met the fund's goal to achieve between EUR250-300m, the optimal size in regards to the size of companies to be acquired. The fund was launched in the first half of 2007 and its lifespan is 10 years, with possible extensions of two consecutive one-year periods. The fund is based in Luxembourg and closed at the end of May 2008.

Investors

Over 80% of investors have also committed capital to the fund's predecessors. Investors in the ILP funds are commonly Italian institutional investors as well as ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices, such as Banca Intesa, Banco Popolare, Banca Popolare di Vicenza, Cattolica di Assicurazione, Mediobanca Group through CMB (a Monaco-based bank), Rothschild Group, Allianz, LGT and the Marzotto and De Benedetti families.

Investments

Like its predecessor funds, ILP III will acquire established mid-sized companies with stable cash flow and growth potential in manufacturing, industrial goods and services sectors. Regionally, the fund is investing in Italy and Germany. Typical targets will have an enterprise value of between EUR100-250m. The ticket size is EUR30-60m, which enables the fund to realise between five and seven deals. The fund may co-invest with other GPs, depending on the specific transaction.

The fund made its first investment in spring 2008 acquiring Z&J Technologies GmbH from Equita. This also marked ILP's first transaction in Germany. A second investment - Panini SpA - was completed shortly after. ILP III expands its regional focus from Italy to include German mittelstands companies, which will typically have international activities and require capital for growth.

People

The main managers are Jean-Francois Aron, Mario de Benedetti and Stefano Cassina in Milan, and Holger Linn in Germany. The team might be increased, mainly in Germany to further expand its regional office.

The team at J Hirsch consists of 10 investment professionals, who have been investing for 10 years in Italy. The team members come from a broad range of backgrounds, such as family offices, M&A and investment banking, and countries (Italy, France, Belgium and Germany).

Since their establishment in 1997, the ILP funds have a combined value of more than EUR400m, which has been invested in a total of 16 portfolio companies. The predecessor funds were ILP I (vintage 2000) and ILP II (vintage 2003), which completed 10 acquisitions. At the present time, the funds - including ILP III - hold five portfolio companies.

Name: ILP III

Closed on: EUR270m

Focus: Buyout, growth, Germany, Italy, manufacturing, industrial goods, services

Address: J Hirsch & Co Sarl 30, rue Marie Adelaide, L - 2128 Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Tel: +352 26 38 41 81

Fax: +352 26 38 41 83

E-mail: contact@j-hirsch.lu

Web: www.j-hirsch.com.