FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JH Partners Closes $350 Million Private Equity Fund
Nation's Five Largest Endowments Invest
SAN FRANCISCO, June 19, 2006 - JH Partners LLC, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, today announced the closing of its second institutional fund totaling $350 million. The nation's five largest endowments - Harvard University, MIT, Princeton University, Stanford University and Yale University - are institutions that participated in the private equity firm's first fund and have committed to larger investments in the second fund.
"We have enjoyed success in finding attractive investment opportunities that are consistent with our strategy, and the early performance of several of these investments in our first institutional fund is encouraging. We continue to believe that we can add value to consumer-oriented businesses in the lower middle market, and are raising additional capital to pursue further opportunities," said Michael John of JH Partners.
Since 1986, the firm's principals have made more than 40 investments, representing approximately $350 million of invested capital, in a strategy to build durable equity value in growth-oriented consumer and marketing-driven companies. The firm closed on its first institutional fund, which totaled $200 million, in November 2004. JH Partners and its principals have played an instrumental role in the growth of such powerful and well known consumer brands as Peet's Coffee & Tea, Bare Escentuals, Frette and Design Within Reach.
"We believe JH Partners employs a proven and disciplined strategy in helping middle market companies along the consumer continuum expand and accelerate their profitability," said Philip Rotner, Managing Director of Private Equity for MIT.
"We believe that JH Partners represents a rare combination of domain expertise and investment skill that should provide the foundation for a firm of excellence," said Daniel Feder, Managing Director of Private Equity for Princeton University Investment Company.
JH Partners specializes in lower middle market companies with revenues of $10 million to $200 million. The firm has deep, hands-on operating experience and works closely with the management of its partner companies to create value through organic growth, rather than simply financial engineering or acquisitions.
Over the past several years the firm made a number of new investments. JH Partners also announced several liquidity events, which returned approximately $566 million on invested capital of $80 million. In June, the firm recapitalized MD Beauty for the seventh time, a company in which the firm's partners have played an active role for more than a decade, and today is one of the fastest growing personal care companies in the U.S.
JH Partners is also the sole private equity investor in Design Within Reach, Inc. and among the investors in PlanetOut Inc., both of which went public in the past two years. Fund I investments included CHEF's, a catalog company offering top-quality cooking equipment, Bell Automotive, a leading supplier of automotive accessories, Country Home Products (under the DR brand), a manufacturer of professional grade power equipment for homeowners, and Jurlique, an Australian manufacturer and global marketer of natural skincare products.
Key sub-segments in which JH Partners has invested successfully include: personal care, food and beverage, home furnishings, direct marketing, and lifestyle products and services.
About JH Partners, LLC
JH Partners is a San Francisco-based private equity firm focused on investments in growth-oriented middle market consumer products and services companies. The firm distinguishes itself among private equity firms in that each of its principals has senior-level operating experience building middle-market consumer related businesses. JH Partners has been instrumental in aiding the growth of powerful consumer brands. Additional information may be found at www.jhpartners.com.
Contact:
Dan Hilley
Abernathy MacGregor Group
213-630-6550
Michael John
JH Partners, LLC
415-364-0300
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