In QuotedData’s morning briefing 1 July 2022:
- BMO Private Equity (BPET) has changed its name to CT Private Equity, BMO Commercial Property has changed its name to Balanced Commercial Property, BMO Real Estate Investments has changed its name to CT Property Trust, and BMO Managed Portfolio has changed its name to CT Global Managed Portfolio. This follows the acquisition of BMO GAM by Columbia Threadneedle in November 2021. The investment policy and processes remain the same for all trusts.
- Ashoka India Equity (AIE) has proposed to amend its investment policy with a general meeting to take place on 29 July 2022 to vote on the proposals. The amendment reflects the expectation that the company’s portfolio will comprise approximately 50 to 100 investments (as opposed to approximately 25 to 50 investments as currently stated) and to clarify that the portfolio may contain a lower or greater number of holdings at any time.
- Pantheon Infrastructure (PINT) has agreed to invest $34.7m in Vantage Data Centers, one of the leading providers of wholesale data centre infrastructure to large enterprises and hyperscale cloud providers. Pantheon is an existing investor in Vantage through its broader global infrastructure platform. Richard Sem, partner at Pantheon Ventures, said: “We are delighted to invest in this high-quality asset, which we believe will offer us access to a strong growth opportunity. The data centre sector is benefitting from strong secular trends which we believe will continue into the long-term. We are especially pleased to partner again with DigitalBridge, a manager with a strong track record in digital infrastructure.”
- BioPharma Credit (BPCR) is amending its disclosure policy to include details of its share buyback powers which it renews annually. It is expected similar announcements will be made every time the share buyback authority is renewed. BPCR has authority to repurchase up to 205,952,416 ordinary shares of $0.01. Such authority lasts until the next shareholder authority granted, or where expressly revoked by shareholders. The buyback may be funded from the company’s resources and the buy-back will be undertaken pursuant to its discount management programme.
- Scottish Investment Trust (SCIN) has posted its half year results for the six months to 30 April 2022. Over the period its NAV total return was 7.1% while its share price total return was 8.9%, significantly ahead of the MSCI All Country World Index which was down by 3.5%. The board announced a second quarterly interim dividend of 6.1p per share payable on 15 July 2022. As reported in 2021, following a review of investment management arrangements, and a recommendation from the board, shareholders approved on 9 December 2021 the proposal that JPMorgan be appointed as the company’s manager and for SCIN to adopt a new investment strategy ahead of the combination pursuant to a scheme of reconstruction and voluntary winding up. SCIN is now being managed in line with the new investment strategy, which is substantially identical to that of JPMorgan Global Growth & Income.
- Miton UK Microcap (MINI) shareholders have exercised their right to use the company’s redemption facility and as announced on 6 June 2022, the total number of ordinary shares in respect of which valid redemption requests were received for the 30 June 2022 redemption point was 14,614,999 (representing 13.3771% of the issued share capital). The board has resolved to effect the redemption using the redemption pool method set out in the company’s articles of association. The shares have today been redeemed and upon such redemption are treated as cancelled.
- Grit Real Estate Income Group (GR1T) has announced it is working on a debt refinancing that would see the majority of its debt ($306m of $409.2m) refinanced into a multi-jurisdictional debt syndication covering Grit’s assets and debt facilities in Mozambique, Zambia, Ghana and Senegal. The single facility will be linked to the group’s ESG targets, including carbon emission reduction and gender equality. The multi-bank syndication is to include a number of the group’s current senior lenders and potentially the introduction of new lenders. Bank of China has approved an extension of their existing facilities, which had a contractual maturity of 19 April 2022, to 31 December 2022, to allow for the long-term refinancing in this syndication. The transaction is targeted to close by 30 September 2022 .
We also have annual results from Aberdeen New India, half-year results from Polar Capital Global Financials and a management fee change from Templeton Emerging Markets.