H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. Capital is an alternative investment firm that operates a family of private equity and venture capital funds as well as distressed debt and public equity hedge funds. The firm's roots trace back to middle-market leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, leveraged recapitalizations, and growth capital investments.

The firm was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida with offices in Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco in the U.S., and since fall 2007 London, Paris, and Hamburg in Europe. Today the firm operates in several related sectors in private equity and alternative investments:

• H.I.G. Capital – Private Equity – A $3.5 billion platform focusing on leveraged buyouts, management buyouts and leveraged recapitalizations of established and profitable manufacturing and service companies as well as growth capital investments in less mature companies. The company is lead by Managing Partners; Sami Mnaymneh and Tony Tamer.

• H.I.G. Europe – Private Equity – The European affiliate of H.I.G. Capital with offices in London, Paris and Hamburg focuses on middle market transactions investing from a dedicated €600 million European private equity fund. In 2007, H.I.G. Europe received the "Fund of the Year" award from the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EVCA). The company is lead by a team of 6 Managing Directors including; Paul Canning and Matthias Allgaier who work within the UK offices.

• H.I.G. Ventures – Venture Capital – A $525 million venture capital practice, H.I.G. Ventures invests in growth stage and expansion stage companies, specifically in the information technology, life sciences and business services sectors.^[1] The company is run by Managing Directors Aaron Davis and Bruce Robertson.

• Bayside Capital – Distressed securities – a $3.5 billion special situations platform, Bayside makes investments in companies with distressed or over-leveraged balance sheets, through a variety of investments including equity infusions; secondary market purchases of debt throughout the capital structure; out of court restructurings, turnarounds and bankruptcies; debtor in possession (DIP) financings and special situations lending.^[2] The company is run by Exec. Managing Director John Bolduc and a team of Managing Directors.

• Brightpoint Capital – Public equities – Operating as a hedge fund, Brightpoint invests primarily in small and mid-capitalization publicly traded companies and, to a lesser extent, in less liquid, non-control investments.

History

H.I.G. was founded in 1993 by Anthony (Tony) Tamer, previously a partner at Bain & Company and Sami Mnaymneh, formerly a managing director at The Blackstone Group. In 1993, the first HIG fund was originally launched with a $73 million hybrid leveraged buyout / venture capital fund, drawing on the backgrounds of its two founding partners. Since its founding, H.I.G. had raised nine investments funds as of 2008:

• H.I.G. Capital Partners I (1993) - $125 million hybrid fund focused on both leveraged buyouts and venture capital
• H.I.G. Capital Partners II (1998) - $255 million fund, focused on leveraged buyouts
• H.I.G. Venture Capital (1999) - $225 million fund, focused on venture capital
• H.I.G. Capital Partners III (2002) - $450 million fund, focused on leveraged buyouts
• Bayside Opportunity Fund (2004) - $500 million fund, focused on distressed securities
• H.I.G. Venture Partners II (2005) - $300 million fund, focused on venture capital
• H.I.G. Capital Partners IV (2006) - $750 million fund, focused on leveraged buyouts
• H.I.G. European Capital Partners (2007) - €600 EUR million fund, focused on European leveraged buyouts
• H.I.G. Bayside Debt and LBO fund II (2008) - $3 billion fund, focused on distressed securities

References

External links

• H.I.G. Capital (company website)
• H.I.G. Capital Profile (BusinessWeek)
• "HAPPY KIDS, CHILDREN'S WEAR COMPANY, ACCEPTS BID." New York Times, September 18, 1999
• "H.I.G. Capital to Finance Shapes Bankruptcy." New York Times, May 12, 2008
• "US firm H.I.G. Capital closes fourth buy-out fund on $750m." AltAssets, September 19, 2006