Date:
08 July, 2008
Company:
CVC Capital Partners
Title:
CVC Asia Pacific subscribes to new shares issued by Hung Hing Printing Group

CVC Asia Pacific subscribes to new shares issued by Hung Hing Printing Group

July 8, 2008 – Funds advised by CVC Asia Pacific Limited (“CVC”) have successfully subscribed to 323,500,445 new shares issued by the Hung Hing Printing Group Limited (450.HK) (“Hung Hing” or the “Company”) at a subscription price of HK$2.70 per share for a total consideration of HK$873.5 million. Following the subscription, CVC holds 35.0% of Hung Hing’s enlarged share capital and has appointed 4 non-independent directors to the board.

Hung Hing is CVC’s fourth investment in Greater China over the past 12 months, and demonstrates CVC’s continued commitment to the Greater China region. The four investments are:

  • Zhuhai Zhongfu – China’s #1 PET beverage packaging company
  • Asia Dekor – China’s leading laminate flooring manufacturer
  • Nien Made – Asia’s largest window blinds and shutters manufacturer
  • Hung Hing – China’s leading printing and packaging company

Hung Hing is the largest vertically integrated printing and packaging company in China with a strong and diversified base of domestic and export customers. Founded in 1950 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1992, its main operations include folding cartons and book printing, paper and corrugated box manufacturing, and paper trading.

CVC brings extensive global experience in the pulp and paper, printing and packaging sectors, and has made a number of related investments including:

  • GS Paper and Packaging – Malaysia’s largest paper and corrugated box manufacturer
  • Asia Printers – a children’s book printing and financial printing group based in Hong Kong
  • Smurfit Kappa – one of the world’s largest manufacturers of containerboard, corrugated containers, folding cartons and paper bags
  • Flint group – an integrated supplier of printing ink in Germany

The subscription will bolster the Company’s financial position, and CVC intends to leverage on its experience to help the Company strengthen its management and explore future growth opportunities.

Commenting on the transaction, Matthew Yum, Hung Hing’s Managing Director, noted, “We believe that CVC can add long-term value to the Company with its extensive experience in this sector and strong financial expertise. We look forward to working with CVC to build on Hung Hing’s success.”

In this transaction, CVC was advised by Clifford Chance. Hung Hing was advised by O’Melveny & Myers and BNP Paribas.

About CVC

CVC Capital Partners is a leading global private equity firm with over US$35 billion in funds raised focused on management buyouts. CVC was founded in 1981 and today has a network of 19 offices throughout Europe, Asia and the United States. Since 1981, CVC has completed over 250 investments across a wide range of industries and countries.

CVC Asia Pacific has been one of the most active private equity investors in the region and has completed 29 investments, for a total transaction size of US$19 billion, covering Greater China, Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan, and Australia.

CVC's current Asia Pacific portfolio includes:

  • Amtek: Singapore's largest precision metal engineering company;
  • GS Paper and Packaging: Malaysia's largest paper and packaging company;
  • Zhuhai Zhongfu: China’s largest beverage packaging company;
  • Plantation Timber Products: a leading manufacturer of wood fibreboards and laminated flooring in China
  • Stella Group: leading integrated travel and hospitality group in Australia;
  • PBL Media: Australia's largest diversified media group (including Channel Nine, ACP Magazines and NineMSN);
  • DCA: the largest diagnostic imaging centre operator in Australia; and
  • Magnachip: a leading semiconductor company in Korea.

CVC's current European portfolio includes:

  • Formula One: the world's leading motor sport management business;
  • Samsonite: the global luggage company;
  • AA: the leading automotive rescue service provider in the UK;
  • Cortefiel: one of the largest apparel retailers in Spain;
  • Debenhams: Britain's leading department store group;
  • Seat Pagine Gialle: the leading directories business in Italy;
  • De la Poste: the Belgian postal services operator; and
  • Post Danmark: the Danish postal services operator.