London, 28th November 2007:
HgCapital, the European sector-focused private equity investor, announces two senior appointments to further strengthen its Consumer and Leisure (C&L) sector team.

HgCapital has been active in the sector for over a decade and counts a number of well-known brands among its current portfolio companies. Within the last twelve months, executives in each of HgCapital’s European offices have completed Consumer & Leisure transactions.  HgCapital’s most recent investment in the sector was the £190 million acquisition of Americana, the owner of the Bench clothing brand. Other investments include The Sanctuary Spa, Sporting Index and the leading German toy manufacturer Schleich.

Jason Khaksar joins from KPMG Corporate Finance where he spent twelve years advising on mid-market private equity transactions, including the public-to-private of Hamleys and buy-outs of Select Service Partner (formerly part of Compass Group plc) and the Tussauds Group.

Sophie Albizua has eight years’ transaction experience in European retail and consumer goods. She joins from Change Capital Partners where she worked for over four years. Previously Sophie spent over three years at Goldman Sachs in London in the Consumer and Retail mergers and acquisitions team. Sophie has worked on private equity transactions across Europe including the acquisitions by Change Capital Partners of Robert Dyas, Hillarys Blinds, Buksesnedkeren (Danish wholesaler of sports and casualwear) and the four companies comprising the newly created Prometheus group (Spanish electrodomestic products distribution group).

Richard Mathews, Head of HgCapital’s Consumer & Leisure team, said:
“Jason and Sophie’s appointments are an exciting development for our business.  The timing of their appointments is significant.  In the UK, we face less certain economic times which we believe will throw up very interesting opportunities in the Consumer & Leisure sector.  HgCapital has a history of successful investments at all points of the economic cycle.”