CGW : Chelverton Growth Trust driven by uplift in unquoted holdings
Over the year to the end of August 2014 Chelverton Growth Trust generated outperformance over the MSCI Small Cap UK Index with a total return on net assets of 14.5% vs. a 7.5% return on the index. The company’s rating improved dramatically (from a discount of 25.3% to a discount of 14.9%), propelling the return to shareholders up to 30.6%. The Board have been conducting tenders for up to 10% of the shares in issue in January but January 2015’s tender will be delayed pending the announcement of a “possible transaction involving one of the larger shareholdings, which if completed, could have a material impact upon the net asset valuation”.
The outperformance was driven by the fund’s unquoted holdings in Parmenion, Chelverton Asset Management Holdings and Transflex Vehicle Hire all of which are trading well. Parmenion is now 22% of Chelverton’s portfolio and the unquoteds now account for 46% of the fund.
New unquoted investments were made in both Chelverton Asset Management Holdings the company set up to finance the Management Buyout (MBO) of Chelverton Asset Management, the Investment Manager of this fund, and in La Salle Education, a business established to provide educational services to schools.