In QuotedData’s morning briefing 13 October 2021:
- RTW Venture Fund (RTW) holding, CinCor Pharma has completed a $143m Series B financing round. RTW participated in the round alongside other investors. CIO, Roderick Wong, said: “We are delighted to support CinCor’s efforts to develop next-generation treatments for hypertension, a condition that affects a significant patient population with limited innovative treatment options. The addition of CinCor to the portfolio further expands our focus on cardiovascular conditions and investing in first-in-class therapeutic approaches.”
- Baillie Gifford China Growth (BGCG) has posted its half-year report for the six months to 31 July 2021, during which time its net asset value per share fell by 14.2% and its share price fell by 21%, compared to a 14.8% fall in the comparative index, on a total return basis. The manager says this has been a result of significant volatility caused by a raft of regulatory announcements that have weighed heavily on market sentiment resulting in valuation multiples contracting across a range of industries. They added: “We would hesitate to draw too much from short term numbers and would hope that shareholders judge our investment returns over periods of five years or longer, the same period over which we judge our companies’ performance. Baillie Gifford has been investing in China for over two decades. As such, we have experienced numerous regulatory cycles, significant volatility and, at times, painful periods of adjustment. However, whilst investment in China may prove volatile over a short term time horizon, we continue to believe that a combination of a vast and growing domestic market, significant investment in research and development, and private and public equity markets that are poorly understood and very short term, give long-term growth investors like ourselves a real opportunity to generate returns for our shareholders.”
- Ecofin U.S. Renewables Infrastructure (RNEW) closed the acquisition of Skillman Solar on 30 September. The project’s construction is now substantially completed and the system is expected to be interconnected to the grid and become operational in the fourth quarter of 2021. In addition, it has bought a 2.0 MW commercial solar facility, Delran Solar, for approximately $3.0m. The project has been operating since mid-2020 and will immediately add distributable cash flow to RNEW in 2021. The projects come with 15 year fixed price feed-in-tariffs for the projects renewable energy credits and a fixed price power purchase agreement with two large corporate customers, that extend for up to a 30 year term for Skillman Solar and 25 years for Delran Solar.
- HICL Infrastructure has increased its stakes in the Bradford Schools Phase I and Phase II PPP projects. The projects are both 27 year contracts to finance, construct, operate, and maintain secondary schools for the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, as part of Bradford’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. Both projects are fully operational, having completed construction in 2008 and 2011 respectively. The combined purchase cost of £16m takes HICL’s stakes in Phase I and Phase II to 48% and 62%, respectively. The company also sold its 50% interest in the Health & Safety Executive Headquarters PPP project for £11m. The price achieved represented a small premium to the asset’s March 2021 valuation.
We also have full year results from JPMorgan UK Smaller Companies and Fidelity Asian Values.