In QuotedData’s morning briefing 26 January 2021:
- Apax Global Alpha is investing €20m (indirectly, through its investment in Apax X Fund) in PIB Group, a leading independent specialist insurance intermediary launched in 2015. PIB is a highly diversified insurance distribution consolidator focusing on specialist commercial lines and non-standard personal lines products with deep expertise across both direct and B2B distribution through its broking, underwriting and network divisions. PIB Group income has risen from nil to approximately £175m on a pro-forma basis in 2020 in five years. The company employs over 2000 employees in the UK, Channel Islands, Ireland, Germany, Poland and India.
- GCP Asset Backed Income has declared a quarterly dividend of 1.575p, up from 1.55p. However, it will not let investors take that as a scrip dividend (being paid in shares rather than cash) because “of the discount between the likely scrip dividend reference price of the shares and the current net asset value per share”. [This is madness, the shares are trading on an 11% discount, using dividend cash to buy back shares to satisfy the scrip dividend might help narrow the discount. Maybe it is something to do with the way that GCP’s permissions for issuing shares to satisfy scrip dividends are worded, but GCP Asset Backed Income is missing a trick here.]
- BB Healthcare Trust has renewed and amended its mutli-currency revolving credit facility . The lender has been novated from Scotiabank (Ireland) Designated Activity Company to The Bank of Nova Scotia, London Branch. The company’s borrowing policy is unchanged. Under the new terms, the fund may draw down loans up to an aggregate value of $150m. The new facility will expire in January 2022.
- Raven Property (the Russian property fund) has done a deal with Invesco to buy back or place the Raven shares that Invesco’s funds hold – of the 156.6m ordinary shares and 31.1m preference shares held by these funds, 9,850,350 shares will be bought back and cancelled, 100m ords and 32.5m prefs will be bought by a new joint venture vehicle created by Raven, its executive directors and some of its senior management, and the balance placed with investors. VTB Bank is funding part of the deal. The purchase prices under discussion in respect of the ordinary shares and preference shares are 21.6p per share and 90.8p per share respectively. [This looks like another tidying up exercise for Invesco post the departure of Mark Barnett.]
- Supermarket Income REIT has bought a Morrisons supermarket in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. The store was developed in the 1980’s and was subsequently extended and refurbished by Morrisons in 2011 to comprise 37,000 sq ft net sales area. It is being acquired with a new 26 year lease (with a tenant-only break option in year 20) and is subject to five yearly, upwards only, RPI-linked rent reviews (subject to a 3.0% cap and a 1.5% floor). The nine acre site has parking provision for over 500 vehicles and the acquisition includes two adjoining units comprising a 36,000 sq ft net sales area let to B&Q and B&M with a weighted unexpired lease term of eight years and subject to open market rent reviews. The total consideration is £30.0m (excluding acquisition costs) representing a combined net initial yield of 5.0%.
- London office developer Derwent London has appointed former JP Morgan vice chairman of global mergers and acquisitions Mark Breuer as its new chairman. He will initially join the board as a non-executive director before taking over from John Burns as chairman following the conclusion of the company’s 2021 AGM.
We also have good results from Standard Life Private Equity, a purchase by Oakley Capital, and trading updates from LXI and Regional REIT