Literacy Capital (BOOK), the £260m UK private equity fund, has sold Wifinity, the internet managed service provider and one of its earliest investments, to Arcus Infrastructure Partners for £15m, in line with its previous valuation and will use the money to repay its borrowings. A £400,000 milestone payment is expected later this year from the company which accounted for 5% of net asset value at 30 September. Combined with previous cash payments, BOOK will have made 5.2 times its original investment in 2017, three years before the fund listed and with Lloyds Development Capital joining as a shareholder in 2021. In November BOOK returned £6m to shareholders, distributing some of the gains made last July when it marked up a 52% uplift in Velociti Solutions and sold a stake in the software provider to bus and rail operators to Close Brothers. The return of capital was in response to the 22% share price discount the fund has fallen to in the past 18 months.
James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData, said: “Literacy Capital’s latest realisation is a great illustration of the case for investing in listed private equity – the freedom to be a more patient investor than a typical private equity limited partnership could be, value creation through earnings growth not financial/accounting wizardry, and proof of a more promising exit environment, which bodes well for 2026.”
Buyout firm Hg Capital has agreed to buy US financial software maker OneStream in an all-cash deal worth $6.4bn. HgCapital (HGT), the £2.3bn private equity investment trust that invests in Hg funds, is providing £93m through its investment in the Hg Saturn fund. Shares in the Nasdaq-listed OneStream jumped 28% yesterday when the $24 a share bid was announced. The investment by HGT, a specialist in business technology, will reduce its outstanding commitments to Hg transactions to around £1.7bn or 68% of net asset value at 30 September. It leaves the company with access to £402m of cash for further investment. Private equity firm General Atlantic and investment firm Tidemark will also become minority investors in OneStream. The Michigan-based company offers software products to help executives report financial statements to regulators and investors. It said the transaction would help it accelerate its AI innovation strategy and scale up its software.
Shares in Phoenix Spree Deutschland (PSDL), the £154m Berlin residential property fund, have risen 2% to 117.3p after the company buoyed shareholder hopes for the planned return of capital this year by beating its €30m target for condominium sales. December set a new monthly record with €5.4m of notarisations, taking the number of units sold in 2025 to 122 at a price of €36m. Average sales prices per square metre were above balance sheet carrying values, underscoring continued market resilience, the company said. In line with the managed realisation strategy approved by shareholders last March, PSDL will return the money through a series of compulsory share purchases.
Great Portland Estates plc (GPE) has expanded its London West End portfolio with the £51m acquisition of a new 155-year lease on a retail and office building close to Tottenham Court Road’s Elizabeth Line station. The purchase from the Corporation of London reflects a net yield of 6.8% and a projected running yield of 7.1% once the vacant retail unit is let.
Pantheon International (PIN), the £1.6bn private equity fund, saw net asset value gain 0.3% in November, with NAV per share up 1.5p to 520.8p at 30 November 2025, putting the shares on a 27% discount. In response to the undervaluation of its shares, the company bought back £4.4m of stock, using a distribution pool that stood at £52.4m at the end of the month. The company has come under pressure to do more to tackle the wide discount. Last month activist investor Metage Capital demanded it sell at least £500m, or 22%, of its portfolio to fund share buybacks.
