Doughty ends Umbro investment

Doughty Hanson has made a complete exit from UK football brand Umbro.Two years since floating the company on the London Stock Exchange, DH sells its remaining 19% stake.

JP Morgan Cazenove placed 26,750,000 shares at a price of 140p per share, raising £36.7m for Doughty. The firm’s total return from the investment stands at 2.3x.

Umbro was floated in May 2004 at 100p per share, significantly below the indicative range of 150p to 190p. The IPO gave the company a market capitalisation of £145m. At that time Doughty reduced it stake from 83% to 57%.

Doughty Hanson Fund III acquired Umbro a management buy-in in April 1999 for £90m. Following its listing, Doughty reduced its stake through placings in March 2005 and December 2005.

Fund III has now generated returns in excess of US$4.5 billion (€3.5bn) for investors, an approximate 2.6x realised return. Three portfolio companies remain in the fund: Impress Holdings, LM Glasfiber and North American Membership Group. Fund III reached final close in 1998 with commitments totalling US$2.66bn.

This latest placing comes just a few months after Doughty sold its remaining shares in UK food group RHM in floated in 2005. In July this year the firm sold its 26.6% stake in RHM for £247m. The sale marked a complete exit for Fund III, which made a 3.3x return on the original investment made in August 2000.