Private Equity Investor saw its net asset value fall slightly over the year to the end of March 2014 (from 230.8p to 228.4p) but this was almost entirely attributable to the strength of Sterling over the period as, in US dollar terms (most of the assets are in the US) the net asset value rose by 8.7%.
£70m has now been returned to shareholders.
Cash and stock distributions totalling $13.5m were received by the fund and just $0.7m invested. $5.3m of outstanding commitments remain (five underlying funds are yet to reach the end of their investment period) – the money to fund these is held in a ring-fenced account.
The company’s holding in Twitter was sold between $34.40 and $4201 per share – the company was prevented from dealing at the time Twitter was hitting its share price highs.
Private Equity Investor faces a continuation vote at this year’s AGM. The Board are urging investors t vote for continuation on the grounds that a slow but orderly liquidation of the portfolio could generate higher proceeds for shareholders than a fire sale of assets.