HM Capital
Encyclopedia
HM Capital Partners is a private equity
firm in the United States that specializes in leveraged buyout
s. The firm, previously known as Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, was one of the largest financial sponsor
s of the 1990s. The firm was founded in 1989 by Tom Hicks
and John Muse as Hicks, Muse & Co. and was changed in 1994 to reflect the roles of Charles Tate and Jack Furst.
radio station
owner, Tom Hicks
became interested in leveraged buyout
s as a member of First National Bank's venture capital
group. Hicks
and Robert Haas formed Hicks & Haas in 1984; the next year that firm bought Hicks Communications, a radio outfit run by Hicks' brother Steven
. (This would be the first of several media companies bought or created by the buyout firm that involved Steven Hicks.)
Hicks & Haas' biggest coup was its mid-1980s acquisition of several soft drink
makers, including Dr Pepper
and 7 Up
. The firm took Dr Pepper/7 Up public just 18 months after merging the two companies. In all, Hicks & Haas turned $88 million of investor funding into $1.3 billion. The pair split up in 1989; Hicks wanted to raise a large pool to invest, but Haas preferred to work deal by deal. Robert Haas went on to form Haas Wheat & Partners
a middle market private equity firm
based in Dallas.
Hicks raised $250 million in 1989 and teamed with former Prudential
Securities banker John Muse to form Hicks Muse. Early investments included Life Partners Group (life insurance
, 1990; sold 1996). In 1991 Morgan Stanley
's Charles Tate and First Boston
's Jack Furst became partners.
As part of its buy-and-build strategy, Hicks Muse bought DuPont
's connector systems unit in 1993, renamed it Berg Electronics, added six more companies to it, and doubled its earnings before selling it in 1998. Not every acquisition was successful for Hicks Muse. Less-than-successful purchases included bankrupt brewer G. Heileman Brewing Company
of La Crosse, Wisconsin
, bought in 1994 and sold two years later for an almost $100 million loss.
The buyout firm's Chancellor Media radio company went public in 1996. That year Hicks Muse gained entry into Latin America
with its purchases of cash-starved Mexican companies, including Seguros Commercial America, one of the country's largest insurers. That year also brought International Home Foods (Jiffy Pop, Chef Boyardee
) into the Hicks Muse fold.
In 1997 Chancellor and Evergreen Media merged to form Chancellor Media (renamed AMFM in 1999). The next year Hicks Muse continued buying US and Latin American media companies, as well as a few oddities (a UK
software maker, a Danish seed company, and US direct-seller Home Interiors and Gifts
). Hicks Muse and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts merged their cinema
operations to form the US's largest theater
chain, Regal Cinemas
. Regal would file for bankruptcy protection in 2001. The company that year also moved into the depressed energy field (Triton Energy) and formed a $1.5 billion Europe
an fund.
Acquisitions in 1999 included UK food group Hillsdown Holdings, one-third of Mexican flour
maker Grupo Minsa, and (just in time for millennial celebrations) popular champagne brands Mumm
and Perrier-Jouët (it quadrupled its investment when it sold the champagne houses in late 2000). Lured by low stock prices on real estate investment trust
s (REITs), the company agreed to buy Walden (formerly Walden Residential Properties) that year.
Hicks Muse, along with UK-based Apax Partners
, bought British Telecom's yellow page directory business Yell Group
for roughly $3.5 billion, making it the largest non-corporate LBO
in European history. Yell
subsequently acquired US directories publisher McLeodUSA for about $600 million, and floated in 2003.
Hicks Muse acquired Nestlé
's Ambient Food Business in 2002, which added well-known UK brands Crosse & Blackwell
, Branston Pickle
, Chivers (marmalade
), Sun-Pat
(peanut butter
), Gale's
(honey
), Sarson's
(vinegar
) and Rowntree's
(jelly
) to the Premier Foods
stable. Cereal
maker Weetabix Limited and Unilever
's cast-offs Ambrosia
(creamed rice and puddings) and Brown & Polson, rounded out Premier Foods' portfolio in 2003.
Acquisitions in 2004 included Kerns Oil & Gas (renamed Blackbrush Energy -- natural gas
production), Persona
(Canadian cable television
company), Regency Gas Services (gas processing and distribution), and Centennial Puerto Rico Cable TV (Puerto Rican cable television company). It also agreed to buy a majority stake in trendy luxury shoe
maker Jimmy Choo
. Disposals during the year included the company's remaining stake in Yell
and its stake in Premier Foods.
In May 2005, Sturm Foods
was acquired HM Capital Partners. Located in Manawa, Wisconsin, Sturm Foods specializes in manufacturing of bulk goods such as oatmeal and markets several sugar free products under private labels.
was often cited with Forstmann Little as the highest profile private equity casualties, having invested heavily in technology and telecommunications companies. The firm's reputation and market position were both damaged by the loss of over $1 billion from minority investments in six telecommunications and 13 Internet companies at the peak of the 1990s stock market bubble as well as several traditional buyouts that ended in bankruptcy (e.g., Regal Cinemas
, Viasystems Group, International Wire.
Tom Hicks
resigned from Hicks Muse at the end of 2004 and was replaced at the helm by co-founder John Muse. Hicks would go on to found Hicks Holdings LLC. Charles Tate resigned from Hicks Muse in 2002.
In January 2005, the company's European arm, separated from Hicks Muse to form Lion Capital LLP
, which has since raised over $4 billion across two private equity fund
s.
In March 2006, Hicks Muse Tate & Furst changed its name to HM Capital reflecting the departure of Tom Hicks
and the new group of partners heading the firm. HM Capital appears to be overcoming initial obstacles, raising new capital from institutional investors for a $1 billion private equity fund
, its first in more than five years.
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
firm in the United States that specializes in leveraged buyout
Leveraged buyout
A leveraged buyout occurs when an investor, typically financial sponsor, acquires a controlling interest in a company's equity and where a significant percentage of the purchase price is financed through leverage...
s. The firm, previously known as Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, was one of the largest financial sponsor
Financial sponsor
A financial sponsor is a term commonly used to refer to private equity investment firms, particularly those private equity firms that engage in leveraged buyout or LBO transactions....
s of the 1990s. The firm was founded in 1989 by Tom Hicks
Tom Hicks
Thomas Ollis Hicks, Sr. , is an American 'leveraged buyout' businessman living in Dallas, Texas. Despite Forbes Magazine estimating Hicks' wealth at USD 1 billion in 2009, Hicks was unable to pay off joint loans of circa £200 million the following year...
and John Muse as Hicks, Muse & Co. and was changed in 1994 to reflect the roles of Charles Tate and Jack Furst.
Hicks & Haas
The son of a TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
owner, Tom Hicks
Tom Hicks
Thomas Ollis Hicks, Sr. , is an American 'leveraged buyout' businessman living in Dallas, Texas. Despite Forbes Magazine estimating Hicks' wealth at USD 1 billion in 2009, Hicks was unable to pay off joint loans of circa £200 million the following year...
became interested in leveraged buyout
Leveraged buyout
A leveraged buyout occurs when an investor, typically financial sponsor, acquires a controlling interest in a company's equity and where a significant percentage of the purchase price is financed through leverage...
s as a member of First National Bank's venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
group. Hicks
Tom Hicks
Thomas Ollis Hicks, Sr. , is an American 'leveraged buyout' businessman living in Dallas, Texas. Despite Forbes Magazine estimating Hicks' wealth at USD 1 billion in 2009, Hicks was unable to pay off joint loans of circa £200 million the following year...
and Robert Haas formed Hicks & Haas in 1984; the next year that firm bought Hicks Communications, a radio outfit run by Hicks' brother Steven
Steven Hicks
Robert Steven "Steve" Hicks , is an American businessman, who is mostly closely associated with the radio business, pioneering the concept of local marketing agreement and was the Vice-Chairman of AMFM, Inc., a predecessor of radio station giant Clear Channel Communications...
. (This would be the first of several media companies bought or created by the buyout firm that involved Steven Hicks.)
Hicks & Haas' biggest coup was its mid-1980s acquisition of several soft drink
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
makers, including Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper is a soft drink, marketed as having a unique flavor. The drink was created in the 1880s by Charles Alderton of Waco, Texas and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904 and is now also sold in Europe, Asia, Canada, Mexico, Australia ...
and 7 Up
7 Up
7 Up is a brand of a lemon-lime flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The rights to the brand are held by Dr Pepper Snapple Group in the United States, and PepsiCo in the rest of the world, including Puerto Rico, where the concentrate is manufactured at the Pepsi facility in Cidra...
. The firm took Dr Pepper/7 Up public just 18 months after merging the two companies. In all, Hicks & Haas turned $88 million of investor funding into $1.3 billion. The pair split up in 1989; Hicks wanted to raise a large pool to invest, but Haas preferred to work deal by deal. Robert Haas went on to form Haas Wheat & Partners
Haas Wheat & Partners
Haas Wheat & Partners is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions. The firm targets specialty middle-market manufacturing, distribution and service companies, particularly family-controlled companies and corporate spin-outs....
a middle market private equity firm
Private equity firm
A private equity firm is an investment manager that makes investments in the private equity of operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leveraged buyout, venture capital, and growth capital...
based in Dallas.
Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst (HMTF)
Prudential Financial
The Prudential Insurance Company of America , also known as Prudential Financial, Inc., is a Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the...
Securities banker John Muse to form Hicks Muse. Early investments included Life Partners Group (life insurance
Life insurance
Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger...
, 1990; sold 1996). In 1991 Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
's Charles Tate and First Boston
First Boston
First Boston Corporation was a New York-based, bulge bracket, investment bank, founded in 1932 and acquired by Credit Suisse in 1990. Together with its sister investment banks, it was referred to as CS First Boston after 1993 and part of Credit Suisse First Boston after 1996, the First Boston part...
's Jack Furst became partners.
As part of its buy-and-build strategy, Hicks Muse bought DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
's connector systems unit in 1993, renamed it Berg Electronics, added six more companies to it, and doubled its earnings before selling it in 1998. Not every acquisition was successful for Hicks Muse. Less-than-successful purchases included bankrupt brewer G. Heileman Brewing Company
G. Heileman Brewing Company
The G. Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA, was a brewery firm that operated in 1858-1996. It was acquired in the latter year by Stroh's, and its independent existence ended...
of La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse is a city in and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The city lies alongside the Mississippi River.The 2011 Census Bureau estimates the city had a population of 52,485...
, bought in 1994 and sold two years later for an almost $100 million loss.
The buyout firm's Chancellor Media radio company went public in 1996. That year Hicks Muse gained entry into Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
with its purchases of cash-starved Mexican companies, including Seguros Commercial America, one of the country's largest insurers. That year also brought International Home Foods (Jiffy Pop, Chef Boyardee
Chef Boyardee
Chef Boyardee is a brand of canned pasta products sold internationally by ConAgra Foods. Named after its founder, Italian-American immigrant Ettore Boiardi, the company began production in the United States in the 1920s...
) into the Hicks Muse fold.
In 1997 Chancellor and Evergreen Media merged to form Chancellor Media (renamed AMFM in 1999). The next year Hicks Muse continued buying US and Latin American media companies, as well as a few oddities (a UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
software maker, a Danish seed company, and US direct-seller Home Interiors and Gifts
Home Interiors and Gifts
Home Interiors and Gifts was a direct sales company specializing in decorating accessories, which were sold by more than 140,000 representatives through home parties in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Its product lines included artificial flowers, candles, framed artwork,...
). Hicks Muse and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts merged their cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
operations to form the US's largest theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
chain, Regal Cinemas
Regal Cinemas
Regal Cinemas is a UK-based cinema chain since the early days of the cinema. In 1928, Regal Cinemas became part of Associated British Cinemas but has retained the name 'Regal Cinemas'....
. Regal would file for bankruptcy protection in 2001. The company that year also moved into the depressed energy field (Triton Energy) and formed a $1.5 billion Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an fund.
Acquisitions in 1999 included UK food group Hillsdown Holdings, one-third of Mexican flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
maker Grupo Minsa, and (just in time for millennial celebrations) popular champagne brands Mumm
Mumm
G. H. Mumm & Cie, situated in Reims in northern France, is one of the largest Champagne producers worldwide.- History :It was founded by three brothers, Jacobus, Gottlieb and Phillip Mumm, German winemakers from the Rhine valley and G. Heuser and Friedrich Giesler on March 1, 1827 as P. A. Mumm...
and Perrier-Jouët (it quadrupled its investment when it sold the champagne houses in late 2000). Lured by low stock prices on real estate investment trust
Real estate investment trust
A real estate investment trust or REIT is a tax designation for a corporate entity investing in real estate. The purpose of this designation is to reduce or eliminate corporate tax. In return, REITs are required to distribute 90% of their taxable income into the hands of investors...
s (REITs), the company agreed to buy Walden (formerly Walden Residential Properties) that year.
Hicks Muse, along with UK-based Apax Partners
Apax Partners
Apax Partners LLP is a global private equity and venture capital firm, headquartered in London. The company also operates out of eight other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel-Aviv, Madrid, Stockholm, Milan and Munich. The firm, including its various predecessors, have raised...
, bought British Telecom's yellow page directory business Yell Group
Yell Group
Yell Group plc is a multinational directories company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. As well as the United Kingdom, it has operations in the United States, Spain and some countries in Latin America...
for roughly $3.5 billion, making it the largest non-corporate LBO
Leveraged buyout
A leveraged buyout occurs when an investor, typically financial sponsor, acquires a controlling interest in a company's equity and where a significant percentage of the purchase price is financed through leverage...
in European history. Yell
Yell Group
Yell Group plc is a multinational directories company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. As well as the United Kingdom, it has operations in the United States, Spain and some countries in Latin America...
subsequently acquired US directories publisher McLeodUSA for about $600 million, and floated in 2003.
Hicks Muse acquired Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
's Ambient Food Business in 2002, which added well-known UK brands Crosse & Blackwell
Crosse & Blackwell
Crosse & Blackwell is a food production brand which has been in existence since 1706.Originally trading under the Jackson brand and then West and Wyatt, the company was purchased in 1830 by Edmund Crosse and Thomas Blackwell...
, Branston Pickle
Branston Pickle
Branston is a British food brand. It is best known for the original Branston Pickle, a jarred pickled relish first made in 1922 in the Branston suburb of Burton upon Trent by Crosse & Blackwell....
, Chivers (marmalade
Marmalade (band)
Marmalade were a successful Scottish pop rock group, from the east end of Glasgow, originally formed in 1961 as "The Gaylords", later "Dean Ford and The Gaylords". In 1966, they changed the group name to 'The Marmalade'. The most successful period for the band, in terms of UK chart success, was...
), Sun-Pat
Sun-Pat
Sun-Pat is a brand of peanut butter in the United Kingdom. Even though American peanut butter had been sold in the UK since the 1930s, Sun-Pat was not launched until the 1960s, initially produced as a by-product of a nut-packing operation in Hadfield, Derbyshire...
(peanut butter
Peanut butter
Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and parts of Asia, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination as in the peanut butter and jelly...
), Gale's
Gale's
Gale's is a UK brand of honey and lemon curd, marketed by Premier Foods.- History :The brand was first produced in 1919 in London. It had been started by Richard Westley Gale of Richmond and Sidney Thomas Rayner of Mortlake as Rayner & Gale which was a partnership. The partnership was dissolved on...
(honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
), Sarson's
Sarson's
Sarson's is a brand of vinegar in the United Kingdom. It is sold in pear shaped bottles with a flip top and the brand is currently owned by Premier Foods.- History and uses :...
(vinegar
Vinegar
Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...
) and Rowntree's
Rowntree's
Rowntree's was a confectionery business based in York, England. It is now a historic brand owned by Nestlé, used to market a range of fruit gums and pastilles formerly owned by Rowntree's. Following a merger with John Mackintosh & Co., the Company became known as Rowntree Mackintosh, was listed on...
(jelly
Gelatin dessert
Gelatin desserts are desserts made with sweetened and flavored gelatin. They can be made by combining plain gelatin with other ingredients or by using a premixed blend of gelatin with additives...
) to the Premier Foods
Premier Foods
Premier Foods plc is a British food manufacturer headquartered in St Albans, Hertfordshire. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...
stable. Cereal
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
maker Weetabix Limited and Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
's cast-offs Ambrosia
Ambrosia
In ancient Greek mythology, ambrosia is sometimes the food or drink of the Greek gods , often depicted as conferring ageless immortality upon whoever consumes it...
(creamed rice and puddings) and Brown & Polson, rounded out Premier Foods' portfolio in 2003.
Acquisitions in 2004 included Kerns Oil & Gas (renamed Blackbrush Energy -- natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
production), Persona
Persona Inc.
Persona Communications, formerly Regional Cablesystems, was a cable television, Internet and telecommunications provider in Canada.Persona was purchased by EastLink in 2007. At that point it ceased to be an independent company, and was used only as a brand by some of EastLink's operations in...
(Canadian cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
company), Regency Gas Services (gas processing and distribution), and Centennial Puerto Rico Cable TV (Puerto Rican cable television company). It also agreed to buy a majority stake in trendy luxury shoe
Shoe
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot while doing various activities. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to culture, with appearance originally being tied to function...
maker Jimmy Choo
Jimmy Choo
Dato' Jimmy Choo, OBE, born Choo Yeang Keat, is a Malaysian fashion designer based in London, United Kingdom. He is best known for founding Jimmy Choo Ltd that became known for its handmade women's shoes....
. Disposals during the year included the company's remaining stake in Yell
Yell Group
Yell Group plc is a multinational directories company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. As well as the United Kingdom, it has operations in the United States, Spain and some countries in Latin America...
and its stake in Premier Foods.
In May 2005, Sturm Foods
Sturm Foods
Sturm Foods is a privately held company that manufactures dry groceries under private label brands and distributes them to the foodservice industry and grocery suppliers throughout the world.-History:...
was acquired HM Capital Partners. Located in Manawa, Wisconsin, Sturm Foods specializes in manufacturing of bulk goods such as oatmeal and markets several sugar free products under private labels.
HM Capital and Successors
Hicks Muse struggled in the years immediately following the bursting of the internet and telecom bubblesDot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
was often cited with Forstmann Little as the highest profile private equity casualties, having invested heavily in technology and telecommunications companies. The firm's reputation and market position were both damaged by the loss of over $1 billion from minority investments in six telecommunications and 13 Internet companies at the peak of the 1990s stock market bubble as well as several traditional buyouts that ended in bankruptcy (e.g., Regal Cinemas
Regal Cinemas
Regal Cinemas is a UK-based cinema chain since the early days of the cinema. In 1928, Regal Cinemas became part of Associated British Cinemas but has retained the name 'Regal Cinemas'....
, Viasystems Group, International Wire.
Tom Hicks
Tom Hicks
Thomas Ollis Hicks, Sr. , is an American 'leveraged buyout' businessman living in Dallas, Texas. Despite Forbes Magazine estimating Hicks' wealth at USD 1 billion in 2009, Hicks was unable to pay off joint loans of circa £200 million the following year...
resigned from Hicks Muse at the end of 2004 and was replaced at the helm by co-founder John Muse. Hicks would go on to found Hicks Holdings LLC. Charles Tate resigned from Hicks Muse in 2002.
In January 2005, the company's European arm, separated from Hicks Muse to form Lion Capital LLP
Lion Capital LLP
Lion Capital LLP is a British private equity firm, primarily focusing on leveraged buyout investments in Europe. The firm specializes on investments in the consumer sector...
, which has since raised over $4 billion across two private equity fund
Private equity fund
A private equity fund is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity....
s.
In March 2006, Hicks Muse Tate & Furst changed its name to HM Capital reflecting the departure of Tom Hicks
Tom Hicks
Thomas Ollis Hicks, Sr. , is an American 'leveraged buyout' businessman living in Dallas, Texas. Despite Forbes Magazine estimating Hicks' wealth at USD 1 billion in 2009, Hicks was unable to pay off joint loans of circa £200 million the following year...
and the new group of partners heading the firm. HM Capital appears to be overcoming initial obstacles, raising new capital from institutional investors for a $1 billion private equity fund
Private equity fund
A private equity fund is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity....
, its first in more than five years.