Oryx International Group (OIG), the £175m UK smaller companies trust run by Harwood Capital’s father and son team of Chris and Nicholas Mills, generated a 15.7% total underlying investment return in the six months to 30 September. Shareholders received a 17.8% total return as the wide share price discount narrowed from 32.2% to 30.9% and its top 15 holdings advanced. Centaur Media was the best performing stock, rising 50% after the sale of The Lawyer, Mini MBA and Marketing Week. Spire Healthcare rallied 40% in the period on the launch of a strategic review that Harwood reportedly pushed for but has given all of that back and more since the end of the period, following a profits warning. The main detractors were corporate communications group Maintel, which fell 31%, housebuilder MJ Gleeson, which slid 19%, and Tissue Regenix, which crashed 65% and is now suspended after the new executive chair uncovered accounting irregularities and removed the management team.
Hansa Investment Company (HANA) announced the completion of Ocean Wilsons (OCN) as it bought all its shares yesterday. Each Ocean Wilsons shareholder will receive 1.4925 new Hansa share units of one voting ordinary share (HAN) and two non-voting “A”-shares (HANA) for each share held. The new shares will be admitted today.
Regional REIT (RGL) continues its debt reduction programme with the £13m sale of Oakland House, a multi-let office building in Old Trafford to Legacie Developments on a net initial yield of 5.1% and a 1% premium over the 30 June valuation. The building is partly let to Greater Manchester Police with 35% vacancy. The property has 161,505 sq. ft of office space with 1.7 years to expiry and annual rent of £700,000. This is the seventh disposal since 30 September and brings total proceeds to £51.7m, ahead of the £40m-£50m target for 2025.
EJF Investments (EJFI), the £72m investor in the regulatory debt of smaller US banks and insurers, says fund manager EJF Capital used 10% of its third quarter management fee to buy 16,722 shares on 08 December 2025. This is in line with the manager’s previously announced plan to do so for at least four quarters, for so long as the shares stand at a discount of at least 15%. The shares are currently 26% below net asset value.
Asset Value Investors, manager of AVI Global (AGT) and MIGO Opportunities (MIGO), has lifted its stake in RM Infrastructure Income (RMII) to 13% from 12.1%. Two years into a wind-down, the £48m lending fund is preparing to return more capital to shareholders after loans accounting for 34% of net asset value were about to be repaid.
