Profile

Overview

Hastings Private Equity, manages two mid-market funds. Hastings Private Equity Fund I ($97 million) raised in 2001 and Private Equity Fund II ($180 million) raised in 2004.

Our focus is to lead investments in later stage management buy-out, buy-in, expansion and replacement capital transactions involving established Australian businesses with enterprise values ranging from $20 million to $150 million. Hastings Private Equity also participates in larger transactions as a co-investor.

Strategy

Our Approach

The right chemistry between management teams and investors is critical to long-term value creation.

At Hastings, we strive to be:

-          approachable - we are a small, friendly team who are readily obtainable and will listen to your ideas;

-          responsive - we give prompt feedback and work efficiently to use everyone's time effectively;

-          flexible - we work with management to create mutually beneficial investment solutions; and

-          professional - we have a reputation for discretion and integrity in following through with commitments.

Whilst we are 'active' managers, we invest in management to run the business:

-          we are professional investors, not owners;

-          we support management in executing their ideas;

-          our 'active' involvement is to work with management through Board representation;

-          we bring new ideas to management through our prior experience; and

-          we can facilitate acquisitions/financing through our business network and funding capability.

Our investment criteria

We are continually looking to invest in the management teams of businesses that:

-          focus on shareholder value creation;

-          have a proven history of performance;

-          have fully developed products and an established customer base; and

-          compete in a large market.

Management teams that we invest with typically use the capital for a variety of purposes, including:

-          management buy-outs or buy-ins;

-          expansion capital to fund growth plans;

-          acquisition/roll-up strategies; and

-          replacement capital for existing shareholders.

Our investment parameters include:

-          the opportunity to invest $5 million-$30 million;

-          minimum equity ownership of approximately 15 percent (with Board representation); and

-          a clearly defined exit strategy.

We do not invest in businesses that are seed, start-up, greenfield or commercialisation ventures.

Assets