Doughty Hanson
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Doughty Hanson & Co. is a British
private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...
fund manager focused on
leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...
and
recapitalization Recapitalization is a type of corporate reorganization involving substantial change in a company's capital structure. Recapitalization may be motivated by a number of reasons. Usually, the large part of equity is replaced with debt or vice versa. ...
transactions primarily of upper
middle-market companies A middle-market or mid-market company is one that is larger than a small business and smaller than a big business. Different authorities use different metrics to compare company sizes — some look at revenue, others at either asset size or number ...
in Europe. The firm also invests opportunistically in European real estate and provides early-stage
venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...
to technology companies. The firm which was founded in 1985 by Nigel Doughty, Chris Wallis and Richard Hanson is one of the oldest European buyout
private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...
s. Since its inception, the firm has invested over €23 billion across more than 100 investments. On 4 February 2012, Doughty was found dead in the gymnasium of his
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home. Then, on 10 August 2015, the firm announced the shutdown of most of its European offices after abandoning its next round of funding. The offices closed in 2015 included
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
,
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
and
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. In May 2017, the firm re-branded itself to DH Private Equity Partners.


History

Doughty Hanson traces its history back to 1985 when Nigel Doughty and Richard (Dick) Hanson started working together on European buyout investments within
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as founding members of its management buyout unit. In 1990 they established CWB Partners, a joint private equity venture between Standard Chartered and Westdeutsche Landesbank. Doughty Hanson was established as an independent firm in 1995. In 1999, the group expanded its activities with the formation of a real estate investment team and the following year it established a team to focus on early-stage technology
venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...
investing.


Investment strategy

Doughty Hanson's three product areas operate as separate fund families: * Private Equity – Doughty Hanson's buyout team focuses on majority ownership and control of market-leading businesses at the upper end of the European middle-market with
enterprise value Enterprise value (EV), total enterprise value (TEV), or firm value (FV) is an economic measure reflecting the market value of a business (i.e. as distinct from market price). It is a sum of claims by all claimants: creditors (secured and unsecure ...
s between €250m and €1bn. * Real Estate – Doughty Hanson is an opportunistic investor and developer active in the office, retail and logistics sectors. Investments range from the acquisition of existing single assets and portfolios to more complex developments and urban regeneration projects. * Technology Ventures – The Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures team targets technology companies within three industry sectors: internet software, mobile communications and clean energy technology.


Responsible Investing

In June 2007 Doughty Hanson became one of the first private equity signatories to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), which provide a framework for incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into investment decision-making and ownership practices. A year later the firm became the first private equity manager in Europe to hire a dedicated Head of Sustainability to focus on the implementation, management and monitoring of ESG issues across the Doughty Hanson portfolio.


Investment funds

Since inception, Doughty Hanson has raised over €8 billion across its five
private equity fund A private equity fund (abbreviated as PE fund) is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity (and to a lesser extent debt) securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity. ...
s. The following is a summary of the investment funds raised to date by Doughty Hanson: In 2007, Doughty completed fundraising for its fifth private equity fund with €3.0 billion of investor commitments. This came just two years after the firm had wrapped up a difficult fundraising for Doughty Hanson IV, in 2004 which had only generated €1.6 billion of investor commitments compared with the firm's original €3.0 billion target. Doughty Hanson III, raised in 1997 had been a €2.7 billion investment fund.


Portfolio companies

The following investments are representative of Doughty Hanson's portfolio of private companies: * The RHM Group - RHM was among the leading food manufacturing groups in the UK. Founded in 1899, RHM was acquired by Doughty Hanson in 2000 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in July 2005. * Priory Healthcare is the largest independent provider of mental health and rehabilitation services in the UK. Priory was acquired by Doughty Hanson in 2002 and was sold in July 2005 in a transaction valued at £875m. * Saft Groupe S.A. - Saft is a manufacturer of high-end batteries for a wide range of niche applications, including aviation, railway, industrial stand-by, defence, and emergency lighting. Saft was acquired by Doughty Hanson in 2004 and the company was listed on Euronext, Paris, in June 2005. * Moeller - Moeller is one of the largest globally active manufacturers of low-voltage electrical distribution and automation components for industrial, commercial, and residential applications. Moeller was acquired by Doughty Hanson in 2005 and sold in April 2008 in a transaction valued at €1.65 billion. Other notable investments include:
TMF Group TMF Group B.V. (''Trust Management Finance'') is a Dutch multinational professional services firm headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, providing accounting, tax, HR administration and global payroll services. As of October 2023, the company ...
,
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, Tumi Inc., Dunlop Standard Aerospace Group, Caudwell Group, and
LM Wind Power LM Wind Power (formerly LM Glasfiber) is a Danish manufacturer of wind turbine blades, and a subsidiary of GE Vernova. History LM Wind Power was founded in 1940, as ''Lunderskov Møbelfabrik'' (Lunderskov furniture factory) in the small town Lun ...
.


Notable alumni

* James Max - journalist and radio presenter specialising in business issues and was a semifinalist on the first series of the British version of '' The Apprentice'' television programme. * Mark Florman - founder and former CEO of Maizels, Westerberg & Co.


References


External links


Doughty Hanson & Co
(company website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Doughty Hanson and Co Private equity firms of the United Kingdom Financial services companies established in 1985 British companies established in 1985