Doughty Hanson said Thursday it had made a threefold return on its equity investment in Moeller. The private equity group invested €192m in the German electrical component maker, which was bought by Eaton Corp, the diversified US group, for €1.55bn. The sale reflects opinion in the private equity market that trade buyers represent the best exit in the current market environment. It is the second such disposal Doughty Hanson has made from its Fund IV, which closed to new money in January 2005. With this sale, the fund would have returned to investors €1bn of the original €1.5bn invested. The first sale was of Saft, a French battery maker. Eaton also announced Thursday it would launch a $565m tender offer on Friday for Phoenixtec Power, a company listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
