Tetragon Financial Group Limited ("TFG") Announces the Proposed Acquisition of Equitix Holdings Limited

LONDON, October 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

TETRAGON FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED ANNOUNCEMENT 

TFG today announces the entry into definitive agreements to acquire Equitix Holdings Limited ("Equitix") from Cabot Square Capital LLP for an enterprise value of £159.5 million (the "Acquisition").

• Equitix is an integrated core infrastructure asset management and primary project platform that currently manages in excess of £1 billion of investor capital across three 25-year core infrastructure funds focused on mid-size infrastructure projects and two energy-efficiency funds.
• Equitix and its current 50+ member team - all of whom are expected to continue in the business post-Acquisition - have been directly responsible for leading, bidding, winning and closing in excess of 20 infrastructure projects in the United Kingdom, and have raised over £3 billion of debt and equity since inception in 2007.
• The enterprise value represents approximately a five-times multiple of management's estimated calendar 2015 EBITDA.
• TFG has agreed to acquire 85% of the company on the closing date with a broad Equitix management group owning the balance, thereby maintaining a significant portion of their current ownership.
• The Equitix management team are committed to the long term success of the business and their ownership will increase over time to incentivise long-term alignment.
• The Acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and certain other conditions and the purchase price is subject to adjustment until the closing date.  There are also certain post-closing increases to the purchase price of up to a maximum of £15 million, payable in early 2017 to the extent the company outperforms its business plan.
• The acquisition is expected to be financed with debt and equity.

Equitix was founded in 2007 by Geoff Jackson, Nick Parker and Hugh Crossley, all long-term practitioners in the infrastructure industry who have been actively involved in Public Private Partnership procurement since inception of the initiative in the United Kingdom.  Equitix also works with partners, advisors and government bodies to identify, develop and manage primary projects that fit the investment criteria of the Equitix funds.  

The Acquisition enables TFG to benefit from its ownership of the Equitix business as well as to potentially expand its investment portfolio to cover infrastructure assets - in Equitix funds and as well as in one-off investments or co-investments.  TFG believes that there is substantial growth and performance potential in both the asset class and the asset management business and that the existing management team will be able to continue to grow the business. As a long-term investor with permanent capital and with a desire to invest in Equitix and its funds, TFG is highly aligned with Equitix, its investors and its operating partners in this effort.

The Acquisition will continue the diversification of TFG's investment portfolio, and is consistent with its goals to add new asset classes and new asset managers to TFG Asset Management, TFG's asset-management platform.  

Paddy Dear, a Principal of TFG's investment manager and a Director of TFG, said, "We are delighted to be buying Equitix and be partners with Geoff, Nick, Hugh and their talented team.  We strongly believe in the asset class, the asset management skills of the team and the long-term growth potential of the business."

Geoff Jackson, CEO of Equitix, added, "We are very pleased to have found TFG as a new owner and partner in our business. We believe their permanent capital, their long-term vision and their strategic thinking should benefit Equitix, our investors, our infrastructure operating partners and our employees."

The Acquisition will also be a topic on the Q3 2014 Investor call, which is scheduled for 12 November 2014.

About Tetragon:

TFG is a Guernsey closed-ended company traded on Euronext Amsterdam N.V. under the ticker symbol "TFG" that aims to provide stable returns to investors across various credit, equity, interest rate and real estate cycles. The company maintains two key business segments: an investment portfolio and an asset-management platform. Both segments cover a broad range of assets including bank loans, real estate, equities, credit and convertible bonds. For further information, please contact:

TFG:
David Wishnow/Greg Wadsworth
Investor Relations
[e-mail]

Press Inquiries:
Sard Verbinnen & Co.
[phone]
[e-mail]

This release does not contain or constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction.  The securities of TFG have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act"), as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to U.S. persons unless they are registered under applicable law or exempt from registration.  TFG does not intend to register any portion of its securities in the United States or to conduct a public offer of securities in the United States.  In addition, TFG has not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940, and investors will not be entitled to the benefits of such Act.  TFG is registered in the public register of the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets under Section 1:107 of the Financial Markets Supervision Act ("FMSA") as a collective investment scheme from a designated country. This release constitutes regulated information ("gereglementeerde informatie") within the meaning of Section 1:1 of the FMSA.

PRN NLD

SOURCE Tetragon Financial Group Limited

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