In QuotedData’s morning briefing 24 October 2023:
- Following its recent strategic review, the board of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited (SONG) announced that it did not receive a superior offer as part of the Go-Shop process in connection with the first disposal. The company was in contact with 17 parties at the beginning of the Go-Shop, with eight parties signing NDAs; one first round non-binding offer was received, but did not subsequently result in a binding bid. The board received feedback through the process that a number of the parties assessed that they could not justify paying a higher price than the offer from the buyer for the first disposal. [QD comment – James Carthew: that last line is the killer – in an open auction situation, nobody was prepared to make a higher bid. That casts real doubt on the NAV, which – coupled with the accrual debacle from the other day seems like good grounds for employing a new independent valuer.]
- Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (GSF) announced that Big Rock ESS Assets, GSF’s 100% subsidiary and owner of the 200MW / 400MWh Big Rock project in California, has secured an initial $60m loan financing from First Citizens Bank. The loan will be used to fund the remaining capital costs of the Big Rock project, which, to date, has been funded with GSF equity. The loan allows GSF to allocate capital to other portfolio projects and to maintain its portfolio diversification standards. The loan is for an initial 3-year term and is expected to be refinanced with longer-term project finance once the project becomes operational. As previously disclosed, the project is expected to be underpinned by a standard California long-term fixed revenue contract for up to 40% of project revenues. Big Rock also benefits from investment tax credits for at least 30% of eligible capital costs under the 2022 US Inflation Reduction Act.
- Primary Health Properties (PHP) says that it has recorded 9.6% rental uplifts on rent reviews carried out in the first nine months of this year, driven by inflation linkage in the leases of its GP surgery portfolio. This equates to £3.1m of extra rent from the 243 reviews settled in the period. It adds that it remains on course to generate in excess of £4.0m (2022: £3.0m) of extra income from rent reviews in 2023. A further £0.2m has been generated from asset management activities where the company has exchanged on five new projects, completed six lease regears and three new lettings. There is a further 26 asset management projects which, in addition to extending lease lengths and increasing rents, will improve the environmental performance of the buildings. The rental growth has allowed PHP to increase its dividend by 3.1% this year to 6.7p – the 27th year of consecutive dividend growth.
We also have an annual update for VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund