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29 March 2005

New Institutional Backing for Penta Capital

Penta Capital Partners Limited (“Penta Capital”) is pleased to announce that Penta Fund I (the “Fund”) has admitted a number of new limited partners and expanded the size of the Fund. The three new investors admitted as limited partners are AXA Private Equity, Bregal and the Goldman Sachs Vintage Funds.

In addition to subscribing new capital alongside Penta’s existing limited partners, the three new investors acquired a secondary interest from one existing limited partner in the Fund. The total capital committed by the new investors and by existing limited partners exceeds £75m (€107m, $143m). The admission of these new partners provides Penta Capital with additional capital to support its strategy of investing in UK mid market growth companies.

Originally raised in 2000, with commitments of £125.5 million, the Fund’s term has also been extended to allow Penta Capital to deploy these additional resources over the next two years. Steven Scott of Penta Capital said, “We are delighted to have raised additional capital in a very efficient manner from three first-class investors without the distraction of a traditional fund raising exercise. This has expanded and rebalanced our investor base. It provides capital for further investment and positions us well for a wider fundraising when further exits have been achieved.”

Campbell Lutyens advised Penta Capital, structured the transaction and raised the new capital on behalf of Penta. Andrew Sealey, who led the Campbell Lutyens team commented, “Through this innovative fund raising Penta Capital has, in addition to raising new capital, been able to diversify its investor base with a number of very high quality and experienced institutions. This will undoubtedly assist Penta in the future development of its business in what remains an exciting segment of the private equity market.”