Hermes Seeks PE Pros for New Fund

Hermes Focus Asset Management, the public equities investment arm of the UK-based fund manager, is launching a new “cross over” fund and looking to hire two senior professionals with experience in private equity transactions.

According to a job ad posted today, HFAM has converted its activist investing operatings into a limited liability partnership and is now raising a new fund targeting large minority block holdings in “listed companies with strong potential for favourable value development” including making “public takeover bids for all or part of the equity” in selected cases.

HFAM was not immediately able to comment on the ad, which suggests the hires will be situated in Hamburg, Germany.

Hermes Focus Asset Management and its European counterpart (Hermes Focus Asset Management Europe) invest in companies that are ‘fundamentally sound but whose shares are discounted by the market as a result of strategic, governance or financial structuring weaknesses and where shareholder involvement can be the catalyst for change and result in improved performance’.

Funds currently managed by the unit include Hermes UK Focus Fund, Hermes UK Small Companies Focus Fund, Japan-focused Nissay Hermes Stewardship Fund and Hermes European Focus Fund, which was launched in February 2002 with committed funds under management of approximately €1.6bn, including allocations from large European pension funds.

By Robert Venes

Source: Thomson Merger News