In QuotedData’s morning briefing 28 June 2021 –
- RTW Venture (RTW), focused on identifying transformative assets with high growth potential across the biopharmaceutical and medical technology sectors, noted the 24 June announcement by one of its portfolio companies, GH Research regarding its pricing of a $160m IPO and admission to trade on the Nasdaq global market under ticker ‘GHRS.’ GH Research is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel medicines utilizing 5-Methoxy-N, N-Dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT), a psychoactive substance from the tryptamine class, for the management of mental diseases. The lead product candidate, GH001, is an innovative drug product for 5-MeO-DMT administration via a proprietary inhalation approach and is currently in phase 1/2 clinical trial for treatment-resistant depression. Prior to IPO, the company together with other funds managed by RTW Investments (RTW’s manager), co-led GH Research’s $125m series B financing round in April 2021.
- Riverstone Credit Opportunities Income (RCOI) has fully realised an investment: In July 2019, it committed $12.3m to a sponsor-backed exploration & production (E&P) company with operations focused in the dry gas window of the Eagle Ford Basin. 30% of the loan was paid down in April 2021, and on 25 June 2021, the remainder was fully realised. This resulted in 19.8% realised IRR and 1.22x realised MOIC. RCOI’s ‘go-forward’ strategy is to focus on infrastructure, infrastructure services, and energy transition assets. Following the Project Chase realisation and the Project Alp realisation that closed on 21 June 2021, RCOI will have no E&P exposure.
- Oakley Capital Investments (OCI) announce that the Oakley Capital private equity III fund (fund III) reached an agreement to sell its stake in ACE Education (ACE) (formerly AMOS), a leading private vocational higher education platform in France and Spain. OCI’s share of proceeds will be approximately c.£16m. Fund III first invested in ACE in 2017 through the platform acquisition of AMOS, the leading business school in France solely focused on sports management. Since then, the group has been transformed via three bolt-on acquisitions and five new campus openings. OCI notes that today, ACE is a diversified higher education group with over 20 campuses and over 4,000 students, and operates under four brands.
- CC Japan Income & Growth (CCJI) reported interim results covering the period to 30 April 2021, with the total NAV cum-income increasing by 15.5%. The share price total return was 24.0%. Over the same period, the Tokyo Stock Exchange Price Index returned 8.8%. Chairman, Harry Wells, noted that “the Japanese stock market has gone through a style rotation to benefit cyclical and value shares, eclipsing growth stocks and resurrected by a recovery of world trade and hopes for a broader reopening of the domestic economy. This has suited our mandate and the portfolio has been well-positioned to capture the upside from this shift in sentiment. It is also pleasing to see our much better relative performance against the Japanese investment trust peer group over the period and in the calendar year to date, albeit that our differentiated investment objective does not merit a strict comparison, given our income bias.”
- FastForward Innovations (FFWD) has invested a further £1.5m in its portfolio company, Little Green Pharma, a vertically integrated, medicinal cannabis business with operations from cultivation and production through to manufacturing and distribution. The investment further develops FFWD’s exposure to the medicinal cannabis industry. FFWD also announced the sale of a total of 18.2k ordinary shares in NASDAQ-listed Portage Biotech for a gain of approximately US$551k.
- VietNam Holding (VNH) has fully exited its position in ABA through full repayment of the bonds and accrued interest on 25 June 2021. VNH made an investment of VND139.8bn in ABA in July 2019 through convertible bonds. The investment was a private-equity transaction, structured with a negotiated set of terms and conditions, including the right to convert into equity once the foreign ownership limits allowed, and once there was the visibility of a listing, and yet provide downside protection in the form of full redemption in the event that there was not a listing event imminent. In late 2020 VNH made the decision not to exercise the conversion option, and instead seek repayment of the bonds. The realisation does not have a material impact on VNH’s NAV.
- Impact Healthcare REIT has signed a new revolving credit facility of £26m with National Westminster Bank, with an accordion agreement to increase this facility to £50m, subject to lender approval. At the same time, the Group has agreed to repay £10m of its £25m term loan with Metro Bank. The new facility is for an initial term of three years with an option to extend, subject to lender approval, for up to a further two years. The margin is 190 basis points (1.9%) per annum over SONIA, which is currently equivalent to a total drawn cost of debt of 1.95% per annum. Debt drawn at 25 June 2021 is £62.3m, giving an LTV of 13.7%. Fully drawn and invested, the LTV would be about 26.5%.
- Civitas has partnered with E.ON on a project to reduce the carbon footprint of 55 of its properties. The project draws on the government’s ECO3 funding scheme to make homes in the UK more energy efficient.
We also have news of a new investment by Chrysalis Investments and an exit by HgCapital Trust.