In QuotedData’s morning briefing 12 June 2023:
- As of 7:30 today, The FCA has suspended the shares of abrdn Latin American Income Fund at the request of the trust. This is part of the trust intention to be wound up, as was announced on 18 May 2023.
- Syncona (SYNC) has announced the launch of a new gene therapy company Beacon Therapeutics with a £96m series A financing. SYNC committed £75m to Beacon and will have a 65.3% stake, valuing its current holding at £60m. Beacon was created by combining Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation’s late-stage X-linked retinitis pigmentosa programme with two proprietary pre-clinical programmes. SYNC highlights two promising pre-clinical programmes at Beacon: first asset is an intravitreally delivered gene therapy for dry age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people over 60, and the second has been in-licensed from the University of Oxford and is targeting cone-rod dystrophy, a group of inherited vision loss disorders affecting the retina.
- Downing Strategic Micro Cap (DSM) has provided an update to the identified technical legal issue with its share capital structure whereby all the trust’s issued shares were redeemable, when a trust must have at least one non-redeemable share in issue. In order to resolve the issue the board is proposing a General Meeting on 6 July and will propose the following resolutions: 1. give the board authority for the appropriation of the relevant distributable profits of the company to the payment of each of the ordinary share buy-backs; 2. give the board authority to enter into the Directors’ Deed of Release and approve this as a related party transaction under the Listing Rules; 3. give the board authority to enter into the Buy-back Deeds; and 4. provide for shareholder ratification, confirmation and adoption of the relevant share Issue. In effect these resolutions are designed to place any affected party in a position they would have been in were the trust to have met the issuance requirements.
- The board of Global Opportunities trust has served formal notice to terminate its Investment Management Agreement with Franklin Templeton Investment Management, with Goodhart Partners appointed to provide investment sub-advisory services to the Company with effect from 31 May 2023.
- Custodian Property Income REIT (CREI) has sold a high street retail unit in Cirencester at auction for £0.72m, in line with the 31 March 2023 valuation.