HgCapital and Zenith announced today that funds managed by HgCapital have signed definitive agreements to acquire a majority stake holding in the parent company of Zenith Vehicle Contracts Group Limited from Morgan Stanley Global Private Equity (MSPE), subject to regulatory approvals.

The highly regarded contract hire and leasing company was recently ranked 12th in the FN50’s list of the UK’s top 50 contract hire companies, with a risk fleet of 27,300 vehicles. It is the current Leasing Company of the Year and is one of the top 100 companies to work for in the UK.

Tim Buchan Chief Executive Officer commented “We thank MSPE for their contribution and are pleased to welcome HgCapital as our new partner. We look forward to working together on our long term strategy of continued investment in product and system developments”.

HgCapital’s Andrew Land said “We are delighted to be investing in Zenith and to be supporting its high calibre management team. We look forward to working closely with them to continue their growth and success”.

Zenith’s Chairman Andrew Cope will be stepping down from his post, but will remain an investor in the new group. The Zenith Board continues to be led by Tim Buchan and Mark Phillips alongside the existing management team plus the addition of HgCapital’s Andrew Land, Nick Turner and Simon Cottle.

HgCapital’s financial and M&A advisors on the deal were Deloitte Corporate Finance and Sciowa.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed

Neither the contents of HgCapital’s nor Zenith’s websites nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the websites (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.