Sovereign wins "Mid Market Deal of the Year" at Real Deals/BVCA Private Equity Awards

Sovereign Capital, the UK private equity buy & build specialist, is pleased to announce that its 11.9x investment return via the flotation of CVS last October won "Mid Market Deal of the Year" at last night's Real Deals / BVCA Private Equity Awards 2008.

In addition to acknowledging Sovereign's exceptional exit, the judges recognised the success of CVS' development through 39 separate, follow-on acquisitions: describing Sovereign as "The Buy & Build Masters".

In summing up the CVS deal, the judges said: "This is a stunning deal.  The veterinary market was considered by a lot of investors, but Sovereign was the firm that made a great success of it."

Sovereign has successfully differentiated itself in the lower-mid market through its deep sector knowledge, direct origination and, above all, its consistent buy & build strategy, noted by the judges as "staying loyal to its winning formula of buy-and-build".

Commenting on the award, Andrew Hayden, Managing Partner at Sovereign said: "We are delighted that Sovereign's strategy of adding significant value to our portfolio companies, and ultimately to our investors, has been recognised by the judges in selecting us for this prestigious award."

Sovereign has so far completed seven transactions during 2008 and looks forward to another successful year.