HIG Capital opens in Europe

HIG Capital, a global private equity firm, has opened offices in London, Paris and Hamburg following the closing of a €600m fund dedicated to investing in the small and medium-sized companies in Europe.

HIG European Partners, which closed at its hard cap of €600m, will invest in companies with enterprise values below €150m.

Sami Mnaymneh, co-founder and managing partner of HIG Capital, is relocating to London to lead the European effort. More than 30 investment professionals are expected to be present in the European offices before the end of the year.

Other recent recruits include London managing directors Matthias Allgaier (previously with Apax Partners and General Atlantic Partners) and Paul Canning (previously with Gresham Private Equity), Paris managing director Patrick Caron, previousy with Bank of America Capital Europe and Hamburg managing director Wolfgang Biedermann, previously with Pricap Ventures.

“We are particularly interested in transactions with a pan-European profile, where we can utilise our cross-border experience, both within Europe as well as between Europe and the US,” said Allgaier. “We believe such experience is currently lacking in the lower middle market.”

HIG Capital’s most recent European transaction was the March acquisition of Diam Europe, a French manufacturer of display fixtures, which had revenues in excess of €110m.