H.I.G. Capital Opens Madrid and Rio de Janeiro Office

H.I.G. Capital, a global private equity firm has opened a Madrid office and also expanded into Latin America with the opening of a Rio de Janeiro office. Jaime Bergel has been appointed managing director to lead its efforts in Spain and Fernando Marques Oliveira has been recruited as managing director to lead the Brazil and Latin America team.

PRESS RELEASES

H.I.G. Capital, a leading global private equity firm with more than $8.5 billion of equity capital under management, announced today that it has opened a Madrid office and appointed Jaime Bergel as a Managing Director to lead its efforts in Spain.

H.I.G., through its H.I.G. Europe affiliate, currently has a team of over 40 investment professionals based in Europe, operating out of offices in London, Paris, and Hamburg. In 2011, H.I.G. Europe was one of the most active private equity investors in Europe, with eleven completed transactions.

Mr. Bergel was previously the founder and CEO of Gala Capital, a Spanish private equity firm he established in 2004, which was named one of the top 3 Spanish funds in 2007. Prior to that, he was a Managing Director and Head of Spain for both Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. In commenting on his appointment, Mr. Bergel stated, “I am very excited to join the H.I.G. team. H.I.G. is ideally positioned to take advantage of the many opportunities in Spain, given the significant amount of capital at its disposal, its experience in working with companies facing operational and/or financial challenges, including debt restructurings, and its focus on small and midsize companies, which form the backbone of the Spanish economy.” Mr. Bergel also added that he expects H.I.G. to be flexible in its approach in Spain, providing both debt and equity capital and investing in either majority or mi! nority stakes in well positioned Spanish businesses. He also expects H.I.G. to help Spanish companies with international growth and expansion opportunities given its presence in the rest of Europe, as well as the U.S. and Latin America.

Sami Mnaymneh, co-founder and Managing Partner of H.I.G., added, “I am delighted to welcome Jaime to the firm. Few in the Spain market can match his deep knowledge, investment experience, and professionalism. I believe the market opportunity in Spain is a perfect fit with H.I.G.’s capabilities and, under Jaime’s leadership, we hope to be a very active investor in Spain. There are many attractive businesses in Spain, and despite short term challenges, we have every confidence that in the long run, the Spanish economy will recover and get back on a growth path.” Mr. Mnaymneh noted that H.I.G. Europe has already made a number of investments in Spain, including Saprogal and Bodybell.

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H.I.G. Capital Expands into Latin America with Rio de Janeiro Office

H.I.G. Capital, a leading global private equity firm with more than $8.5 billion of equity capital under management, announced today that it has opened an office in Rio de Janeiro, and appointed Fernando Marques Oliveira as a Managing Director to lead its Brazil and Latin America team.

Prior to joining H.I.G., Mr. Marques Oliveira was Managing Director and head of the Latin America team at General Atlantic (“GA”), where he was involved in a number of transactions including Qualicorp and Peixe Urbano. Before GA, Mr. Oliveira spent many years at Grupo Icatu, where he led a number of successful investments, including Mabel, Aracruz and Grupo ABC.

In commenting on his appointment, Mr. Marques Oliveira stated, “I am looking forward to joining the H.I.G. team. H.I.G. has a terrific track record of investing in small and mid size businesses all over the world and using its in-house operational and strategic know-how to drive meaningful value creation. What also attracted me to H.I.G. is the high level of flexibility the firm has in structuring investments, allowing it to invest in many different sectors, through either debt or equity, and taking either a minority or majority position. This flexible approach fits very well in the vibrant developing economy of Brazil.”

Sami Mnaymneh, co-founder and Managing Partner at H.I.G., added, “I am pleased to welcome Fernando to the firm. He is a proven investor with long standing experience in the Brazilian market. Under his leadership, we are committed to building a strong team in Brazil, focused on long term success. Brazil’s economy has a very bright future, thanks to its large population – including a rapidly growing middle class – and its abundant natural resources. We look forward to being part of it by targeting a segment of the market which has been mostly overlooked by international investors.”

About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. Capital is a leading global private equity investment firm with more than $8.5 billion of equity capital under management, and a team of more than 225 investment professionals. Based in Miami, and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, and San Francisco in the U.S., as well as affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, and Paris in Europe, H.I.G. specializes in providing capital to small and medium-sized companies with attractive growth potential. H.I.G. invests in management-led buyouts and recapitalizations of profitable and well managed manufacturing or service businesses. Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 200 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 50 companies with combined revenues in excess of $8 billion.