Private equity fund Oakley Capital Investments makes a partial divestment from its stake in two education groups; Riverstone Energy accelerates its wind-down with the second big disposal in two days; Nippon Active Value’s activism keeps it ahead of the Japanese stock market; plus updates from RIT Capital Partners, Gresham House Energy Storage, Ground Rents Income and ProVen VCT.
Oakley Capital Investments (OCI) is to receive £25m from the partial sale of its stake in two “K12” (primary and secondary level) education groups, the largest of which is Affinitas, a UK-based international group of 20 schools in Europe and the Americas. The transaction was priced at a 6% premium to the 30 June valuation and will add around 3p or 0.4% to net asset value (NAV) per share. OCI, which invests in Oakley Capital’s private equity funds and released positive half-year results last week, says Oakley Capital Fund IV is to sell its majority stake in and retain a minority position while Oakley Capital Fund VI invests new capital with two external co-investors. OCI will retain an investment of around £25m in the K12 groups, which also include Thomas’ London Day Schools, through Fund VI. Affinitas has also appointed former EQT private equity partner Thomas Rajzbaum as chief executive. The transaction leaves OCI on a discount of around 25%.
Riverstone Energy (RSE) accelerates its wind-down by participating in the secondary share sale of Permian Resources, its largest holding. The $623.7m exit by affiliates of Pearl Energy Investments and Riverstone Investment Group, RSE’s fund manager, could see the sale of the entire position which corporate broker Deutsche Numis estimates is valued at $133m. This accounts for 55% of the portfolio following the $65m (C$90m) sale of WhiteCap Resources yesterday which the company said should enable a $115m return of capital. Deutsche says this amount is now likely to rise. Assuming a full exit from Permian, RSE will be left with around $116m of conventional oil and gas and decarbonisation assets. The shares rose 5% yesterday to stand on a 17% discount which partly reflects the 7.5% termination fee the fund manager will receive on wind-up.
Nippon Active Value Fund (NAVF), the best performing Japan trust over five years, extended its gains in the first half of the year with a 7.6% rise in net asset value underpinning an 8.5% total share price return that beat the MSCI Japan Small Cap index total sterling return of 5%. Since 30 June the NAV has returned 9.9%, below the benchmark’s 10.4% but with shares in the £415m trust up 158% over five years. The corporate activist submitted shareholder proposals at twelve annual general meetings and says the outlook for its concentrated strategy is positive as government and regulators continue to push Japanese companies to be more shareholder focused. The shares stand on a narrow 2% discount.
RIT Capital Partners (RCP) saw net asset value rise 1.3% in August, slightly ahead of the 1.2% gain in the MSCI All Country World index. This leaves the £2.8bn Rothschild-backed multi-asset fund up 7.5% this year behind the 8.9% advance in the benchmark. Quoted equities, which make up 41% of the global portfolio, were the main driver as the company benefited from holdings in funds invested in Japan, China, mid caps and biotech stocks. Private equity and credit funds and gold also contributed. The shares trade on a 30% discount.
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund (GRID) says the net asset value of its battery storage portfolio slipped to £612.9m in the first half of the year with NAV per share down 1.5% to 107.71p at 30 June from 109.35p at 31 December. There were no further details but the company will publish half-year results on 24 September. The shares stand on a 33% discount.
Ground Rents Income (GRIO), the £25m Schroder-run residential leasehold fund in the midst of a wind-down, says chair Barry Gilbertson will leave the board in December when its annual report is published.
ProVen VCT (PVN) confirms it will look to raise money with a combined subscription offer for the 2026 and 2027 tax years. The 2025 offer which opened last November remains open until 30 September.
