Disposal

RNS Number : 5042D
HG Capital Trust PLC
16 September 2008

HgCapital Trust plc

The following is the text of a press release issued by HgCapital, which manages the investment portfolio of HgCapital Trust plc
alongside those of other institutional clients. On completion of the sale of Addison Software, HgCapital Trust plc, a listed investment
trust giving investors the opportunity to participate in all of HgCapital's investments, will realise a total of about �18.6 million. The
impact of the realisation on the net asset value of HgCapital Trust plc would be an increase of approximately 27.1p per share over the
published 31 August 2008 net asset value. The deal is subject to cartel clearance with completion expected in October 2008.

HgCapital sells Addison Software for 3.7 times its investment

London, 16 September 2008: HgCapital, the European sector-focused private equity investor, today announced the sale of Addison Software,
a leading German provider of business-critical solutions to accountancy practices and SMEs, to the international multimedia company Wolters
Kluwer. This is HgCapital's twenty-ninth exit since June 2005 and its fifteenth exit in fifteen months. The sale represents a 55% IRR and a
return of 3.7x .

HgCapital's TMT team identified regulatory-driven, subscription-based software in 2003 as a promising sub-sector with scope for
considerable growth and over the past five years has been the most active buyer of companies in the SME software sector in Europe. As part
of this research, Addison Software was identified and subsequently acquired in June 2005 in an exclusive, non-competitive process. Since
then, HgCapital has worked closely with management to grow the business both organically and through acquisition, enabling Addison to
acquire its competitor PBSG, which had also been identified in parallel by HgCapital at the time of its German software sub-sector
research.

Under HgCapital's ownership, Addison adopted a new business model, converting the company into an entity with a unique network of
wholly-owned sales centres. The company also made significant investments in R&D and technology enabling it to sustain differentiated
products. This has resulted in revenue and profits more than doubling and employee numbers growing from 175 to over 340 since HgCapital
acquired the company in 2005. Furthermore, the business appointed a new CFO and implemented a new and strategically vital Head of Sales
role. In addition to PBSG, Addison also made a total of nine bolt-on acquisitions over this period.

Nic Humphries, Head of TMT at HgCapital commented:
"We are delighted with the way Addison has developed over the past three years. We wish the team well taking growth to the next level
under the ownership of Wolters Kluwer.

The success of our investment in Addison further underlines the strength of our sector-led approach and the way we support our portfolio
companies proactively. Our deep focus on specific sub-sectors enables us to identify potential acquisition targets well ahead of the wider
market and to develop an industry-specific deal pipeline over a measured timeframe. This sale, in conjunction with funds already received by
clients, will allow us to return a total of �123 million on an original cost of �33 million. It represents our fifteenth exit in the last
fifteen months; these have, on average, achieved a premium of more than double net book value. It is an encouraging indication of our
ability to generate favourable returns even through tougher macroeconomic conditions."

Dr Michael Rner, CEO of Addison, said:

"Thanks to close work with HgCapital under their ownership we have fundamentally changed our strategic position in the German SME
software market and developed into a company with great prospects for continued growth. HgCapital support was invaluable in enabling us to
develop our strategically valuable network of proprietary sales centres and grow into a substantially larger and stronger business. In the
tax accounting market, we are now by far the biggest private software provider, and represent a very viable and strong alternative to the
incumbent cooperative DATEV. We now look forward to taking the business to its next stage of growth under the ownership of Wolters Kluwer,
who represent excellent strategic partners for our future development.

Note: Quoted returns figures are subject to currency fluctuations

-Ends-

Contacts:
HgCapital
Nic Humphries Tel: +44 (0) 207 089 7888

Maitland
Neil Bennett Tel: +44 (0) 207 379 5151

About HgCapital
HgCapital is a private-equity investor in the European mid-market. We focus on investments with an enterprise value in the range of
�50-500 million. Our business model combines sector specialisation with dedicated, proactive support to our portfolio companies as well as
the application of significant human resource and the corresponding management expertise across all phases of the investment process.
HgCapital manages more than EUR2.0 billion for some of the world's leading institutional and private investors. Our goal is to achieve
outstanding results for our investors, management team and intermediaries.

For further details, see www.hgcapital.com

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