Saba Capital has increased its position in Smithson (SSON) to 15% from the 14.1% the activist hedge fund revealed a month ago. It now holds over 16.4m voting rights in Terry Smith’s £1.7bn global smaller companies investment trust on a 9% discount.
International Biotechnology Trust (IBT) and RTW Biotech Opportunities have benefited from another acquisition in their sector after Danish obesity drug giant Novo Nordisk bought Akero Therapeutics in San Francisco for up to $5.2bn cash. Shareholders in Akero, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapies for metabolic diseases, will receive $54 per share, a 42% premium to the price on 19 May before speculation of the deal arose. Akero represented 2.9% of IBT’s portfolio and is its eight merger or acquisition this year and the 33rd since 2020. It accounted for 3.3% of RTW’s net assets and is its fourth portfolio holding bought out since July. Winterflood analyst Shavar Halberstadt said: “This is getting repetitive. Despite quite concernin regulatory news flow out of Washington at several points this year, biotech is on a tear, and IBT has done a particularly good job positioning for M&A.”
Riverstone Energy (RSE) has fully exited its investment in US battery manufacturer Solid Power with the sale of $343,000 of warrants. This week the company announced plans to return £190m to shareholders as part of its wind-down after the sale of several big holdings.
Temple Bar (TMPL), the £1bn top-performing UK equity income trust run by Nick Purves and Ian Lance at Redwheel, rose 4.7% in September on the back of a 3.5% gain in its value stock portfolio that beat the 1.9% rise in the FTSE All-Share index. Anglo American, Currys, Macy’s and Valterra Platinum were the main contributors, with miner Anglo American soaring 22% on its proposed acquisition of Canada’s Teck Resources. BT Group weighed on returns. Having doubled since mid-2024, its shares fell after several analysts’ downgrades in response to declining revenue at its Openreach division and a weakening UK telecoms market. The fund managers believe UK equities continue to be valued at a significant discount to global equities.
Capital Gearing Trust (CGT), the £806m defensive global portfolio focused on inflation protection, gained 1% last month in response to “continued fiscal policy uncertainty and stretched equity valuations”. Its key allocations under an investment team led by Peter Spiller at CG Asset Management are 27% to risk assets including gold, 39% to inflation-linked bonds, and 34% to cash, treasury bills and corporate credit.
Onward Opportunities (ONWD), the £29m UK smaller companies investment company run by Laurence Hulse at Dowgate Wealth, has raised £2m in subscriptions this week. Dowgate bought a further 78,463 shares taking its holding to over 10m, representing 34.9% of the two-year-old fund standing on a 2% discount.
Jade Road Investments (JADE), an AIM-listed Asia private assets fund that received an emergency £1.2m fund raise from Luxembourg-based family office Noia last month, has issued a circular to shareholders requesting a waiver of takeover provisions and the approval of a new remit of investing in mid- and late-stage technology companies. Following the fund-raising Noia owns 83.5% of the company.
