It was almost as if JLA’s private equity pitchbook was designed to be as unappetising as possible. The pitch described the company as a distributor of washing machines – and on the front page there was a picture of one.
The origination team at HgCapital had as good as chucked the pitchbook in the bin when Matthew Rourke, head of HgCapital's services investment team, spotted it. Five years on, HgCapital is set to make 3.5 times its money from JLA and is still a shareholder.
