Investment Principles

In 2002, Dominic Shorthouse decided to set up Englefield Capital LLP. In its conception he drew on his extensive experience in private equity which culminated in his role as Managing Director of Warburg Pincus in London and the only non-American on the worldwide board. He firmly believed that, by carefully choosing the very best people who shared in his philosophy and ambition, he could form a company which could become a leader in the chosen field of European mid-market investing. Dominic was joined by Adam Barron and Edmund Lazarus who, together with Peter Mead, form the Management Board. We closed our first fund with commitments of €700 million in May 2003. We subsequently closed the Englefield Fund II with commitments of a little over €1 billion in January 2007. Targeting the European middle market, the funds focus on investments of between €30 and €150 million of equity in companies which typically have an enterprise value in excess of €75 million. The experience and expertise of our partners and affiliates allow us comprehensively to understand the commercial and financial issues that affect our investee companies.

We believe, for our business, 'small is beautiful'. We want to stay small and collegiate, based in a single office in London and seek out deals in promising sectors in the middle market with strong managers who will value our operational involvement in helping them grow. Our ambition is to be 'best of breed' in our chosen market.

We believe in 'finding the following wind'. Englefield's investment approach relies on thoughtful analysis of industry sub-sectors to identify favourable forces at work. The fund targets attractive business models in areas which we fundamentally understand. Our approach is determinedly proactive. We mine for deals and opportunities in sectors where we have relevant transactional and operational expertise.

We believe in 'active partnerships'. Our operational emphasis is on collaborative, active involvement with our portfolio companies. The partners' strategic, financial and operational expertise materially enhances the value of every investment. We generally take a majority shareholding – in cases where we have a minority position we seek contractual rights which allow us to influence matters of strategic significance. We want our portfolio management team to look upon us as the most valued business relationship they have.