Management Agreement with GCI
20 June 2008
ACP Capital Limited (“ACP Capital”: APL.LN), the merchant bank and asset manager focused on European small and medium sized enterprises, today announces that ACP Investment Management Ltd (“ACP IM”), its wholly owned asset management subsidiary, has entered into a minimum 5 years management agreement with subsidiaries of the German private equity and consulting company, GCI Management AG (“GCI”), in which ACP IM will provide the investment management services required for the private equity activities of GCI. The management agreement is subject to obtaining the relevant supervisory board consents although GCI consider this to be a formality.
In exchange for managing this permanent capital vehicle, ACP IM will be paid an annual management fee based on 2% of GCI’s audited net asset value (“NAV”) but with a minimum of €1.57 million. In addition, ACP Capital will be paid an annual 20% carry, if annual profits exceed 8%, based on all profits in excess of the benchmark of €52.5 million. Consequently, ACP Capital views the management of this further vehicle by ACP IM, as a significant milestone in its positioning as a successful pan-European asset manager.
ACP IM is increasingly developing its presence as a leading asset manager in Germany to the Mittelstand in originating and funding private equity through GCI and debt through ACP Mezzanine.
ACP IM is currently in similar discussions in Italy and France in developing further private equity initiatives.
It is intended that Alexander Koch will be appointed alongside Nikolaj Larsen as one of the two ACP Capital non-executive directors of the relevant supervisory boards of GCI BridgeCapital AG and GCI FinancialServices AG.
Derek Vago, Chief Executive Officer of ACP Capital, commented:
“This management agreement is a further significant milestone in the growth of ACP IM and its activities in Germany in providing both private equity and debt products to the Mittelstand through its managed vehicles. ACP IM is a key part of ACP Capital’s growth and we are increasingly focused on growing the company organically and through acquisitions in our key markets, of France, Germany, UK and Italy.
ACP IM, we believe, will be demonstrating significant value to ACP Capital, which to-date has not been reflected in ACP Capital’s net asset value.”
Enquiries:
- Rob Bailhache & Nick Henderson, Financial Dynamics (Media Relations) +44 (0) 20 7269 7200
- Sacha Macintosh, ACP Capital UK LLP +44 (0) 844 800 4530
- Chris Wells, Stewart Wallace, Collins Stewart +44 (0) 207 523 8350
For further information on GCI Management, please visit www.gci-management.com.
About ACP Capital
ACP Capital is a Jersey-incorporated specialist integrated finance and asset management company, quoted on AIM and focused on providing equity and debt products to European small and medium sized enterprises (the “SMEs”).
ACP Capital aims to benefit from opportunities generated from the strong growth in SME demand for integrated finance, combined with the reduced appetite for SME lending among traditional banks owing to higher regulatory capital requirements.
In order to better serve the SME markets directly, ACP Capital is establishing localised operating platforms (the "Platforms") in its key markets of Germany, France and the United Kingdom. These include to-date Leasecom, a leading SME finance provider in France, and GCI, a specialist private equity firm for the German SME market. Further Platforms are being evaluated currently to serve the remaining key markets.
About GCI Management AG
GCI Management AG, Munich (www.gci-management.com), listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange (ISIN DE0005855183), is a management and investment company engaged in consulting, private equity and financial services. In line with its growth strategy, GCI Management strives to acquire minority and majority interests in companies with high value potential, generally of the old economy such as machinery manufacturers, automotive suppliers and in the real estate sector.