Loans to Investee Company

RNS Number : 2496T

B.P. Marsh & Partners PLC

03 June 2009

 



Date:                      3rd June 2009

On behalf of:          B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc ('B. P. Marsh' or the 'Company')

Embargoed until:    0700hrs            

B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc

Loans to Investee Company

B. P. Marsh (AIM: BPM), the niche venture capital provider to early stage financial services businesses, announces today that it has agreed to provide a Working Capital Loan of £2.46 million and an Acquisition Finance Loan of €900,000 to Hyperion Insurance Group Limited ('Hyperion').  Hyperion is an international insurance group which employs 700 people in 51 offices operating out of 17 countries. Through the different companies in the Hyperion Group it covers wholesale broking, retail broking, underwriting and reinsurance broking. B. P. Marsh first invested in Hyperion in 1994.

Working Capital Loan

B. P. Marsh has agreed to provide a loan of £2.46 million ('the Loan') to Hyperion as part of a £3 million shareholder loan facility.  

B. P. Marsh will provide the Loan from its existing cash resources available for investment in portfolio companies, with the remaining £0.54 million provided by other shareholders. The Loan will be used by Hyperion to finance its working capital requirements as it further expands and grows its international insurance intermediary business.

The Loan will be drawn down immediately, in full and will attract interest at a rate of 14% per annum, paid monthly in arrears. 

The loan principal is to be repaid as follows:-

First 21 months	No principal repayment
21-27 months	10% (in 2 quarterly payments)
27-39 months	15% (in 4 quarterly payments)
39-51 months	30% (in 4 quarterly payments)
51-60 months	45% (in 4 quarterly payments)

The above constitutes the operative terms of the Loan. There is no convertibility and there are no penalties / premiums imposed for early redemption, provided three months' notice is given of this intention.

Acquisition Finance Loan 

B. P. Marsh has also today agreed to subscribe €900,000 for Loan Notes in a subsidiary of Hyperion part of a €4,500,000 loan note issue, alongside other shareholders. B. P. Marsh will fund its participation in the Loan Notes from its existing cash resources available for investment in portfolio companies. The Loan Notes will attract interest at the rate of 13% per annum.

The participating shareholders have also decided to take up the offer from Hyperion to acquire shares at par value as part of the loan note issue. The total percentage of shares to be allotted to participating shareholders in the issue will equate to 1% of the entire fully diluted issued share capital, of which B. P. Marsh will be allotted 0.2%. 

The Loan Notes will be used by Hyperion to finance an acquisition. 

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For further information:

B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc                                                           www.bpmarsh.co.uk

Brian Marsh OBE                                                                            [phone]

Nominated Adviser

Arbuthnot Securities

Katie Shelton/Nick Tulloch/Ed Gay                                                   [phone]

Redleaf Communications (PR to BP Marsh)

Emma Kane/ Alicia Jennings                                                              [phone]

Notes to Editors:

About B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc

B.P. Marsh's current portfolio contains ten companies. More detailed descriptions of the portfolio can be found at www.bpmarsh.co.uk. 

Over the past 19 years, the Company has assembled a management team with considerable experience both in the financial services sector and in managing private equity investments. Many of the directors have worked with each other in previous roles, and all have worked with each other for at least five and half years. 

Prior to Brian Marsh's involvement in the Company, he spent many years in insurance broking and underwriting in Lloyd's as well as the London and overseas market. He has over 30 years' experience in building, buying and selling financial services businesses, particularly in the insurance sector. 

Jonathan Newman is the Group Director of Finance and has over 10 years' experience in the financial services industry. Jonathan advises investee companies through several non-executive board appointments and evaluates new investment opportunities. 

Robert King is a Director and Group Company Secretary. He joined B.P. Marsh in May 2003 having started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Since joining B.P. Marsh he has taken on responsibility for the Group's legal, compliance and secretarial functions and played a key role in the flotation of the Company.

About Hyperion Insurance Group Limited

Hyperion was established in 1994 and is headquartered in the City of London. B. P. Marsh first invested in Hyperion Insurance Group in 1994. Since then, Hyperion has grown to become an international insurance group with businesses covering wholesale and retail broking, reinsurance broking and underwriting, transacting business in over 50 countries around the world.  Hyperion employs over 700 people in 51 offices operating out of 18 countries. 

The Group was awarded a Queen's Award for Enterprise in International Trade in April 2007. Hyperion was ranked for the second year running in the 2008 Sunday Times Buyout Track 100. It was also ranked 27th in the 2008 Insurance Times Top 50 UK Brokers league table and 10th in Post Magazine's 2008 Top 25 City Brokers report.

Hyperion's shareholders include 3i, B. P. Marsh & Partners plc, and Murofo Investments SL.

Further information is available at Hyperion's website:  www.hyperiongrp.com

 

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