GHE : Gresham House proposals unveiled
Gresham House has published more detail on its revamp. it will get a new set of directors, cease to be an investment trust, shift to the AIM market, adopt a new investment policy and raise some extra money. The proposals need to be approved by shareholders at a meeting scheduled for 31 October 2014.
The new board comprises Anthony Townsend, Peter Moon, Anthony (Tony) Dalwood, Michael Phillips and Duncan Abbot. The existing directors, other than Richard Chadwick who will stock around until at least December 2015 will resign.
The new investment policy is that the company will be a quoted platform principally for investment in, and the investment management of, relatively differentiated, specialist or illiquid assets in order to generate superior risk adjusted returns over the longer term – mostly capital growth. The company may invest in (and take controlling or non-controlling stakes in) publicly and/or privately held companies; set up and potentially co-invest in funds; and it may enter into derivative contracts (including but not limited to currency hedging, or other portfolio risk management techniques). The statement says that if an when the company establishes an asset management business it could cease to be an investment company and become a trading company instead. The company would have already lost its investment trust status on delisting from the main market.
The fund raising is for £11.4m, based on issuing 3973,510 shares at 286.9p – a 13.5% discount. Shareholders will get warrants on a one for five basis, exercisable between 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2019 (inclusive) at an exercise price of 323.27p. Certain individuals including Tony Dallwood, Peter Moon, Michael Phillips and Duncan Abbot will split 850,000 more warrants between them. They will have to pay the company 7.5p for each warrant they are allocated.
If this plan is rejected, the idea is that the company is delisted and liquidated over time – the statement says that process could take three to four years.
Update 31/10 – shareholders approved all the proposals