Oakley Capital Investments (OCI), the £965m investor in Oakley Capital’s private equity funds, is investing £10m in ONHC, an Italian specialist private healthcare insurance services provider, as part of a bigger investment by the fund manager. OCI’s investment is being made through Oakley Capital Fund V alongside chief executive Filippo Ceppellini, who founded the company in Genoa in 2007, and his management team.
James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData, said: “We have seen quite a few deals announced by Oakley this year. Its new investment into the private healthcare insurance sector follows its tried and tested approach of identifying and backing a founder-led business in a growth market. Despite the perception of a difficult market for private equity, we have seen a steady narrowing of Oakley Capital Investments’s discount over the past six months. Investors may be looking backwards at OCI’s great long-term track record, but they may also be thinking about what Oakley might achieve with its new crop of investments.”
European Assets Trust (EAT) says the cash option in its merger with European Smaller Companies Trust (ESCT) was over-subscribed. Over 109m, or 30.3%, of its shares elected cash rather than move into ESCT, double the 15% limit. Accordingly, these applications will be scaled back and 85% of EAT shares will roll over into ESCT.
Petershill Partners (PHLL), the Goldman Sachs spin-off fund preparing to delist, is poised to receive a $163.9m (£135m) cash windfall after agreeing to sell most of its non-controlling equity stake in Industry Ventures, a US venture capital technology investor with $7bn (£5.7bn) under management. It is being sold to Goldman Sachs Group in a transaction that values Petershill’s stake at up to $236.6m (£194m), including a further $72.7m (£60m) in contingent payments linked to future business performance up to 2030. This represents a 5% premium to the $186.4m (£153m) carrying value of the stake at 30 June, and accounts for about 4% of Petershill Partners’ market capitalisation.
RTW Biotech Opportunities (RTW) enjoyed a strong September with net asset value (NAV) jumping 7.5% to US$2.12 per share, helped by the acquisition of two portfolio companies: Genmab’s $8bn purchase of Merus, a 1.2% holding, at a 41% premium; and Biogen snapping up unquoted Alcyone, a 0.3% position, for $85m upfront, which represented a 242% uplift on the $2.1m carrying value and added $5m or 0.72% to NAV. RTW’s underlying investment return in September beat the 4.3% from the Nasdaq Biotech index but trailed the 11% rally in the smaller companies Russell 2000 Biotech. Over the third quarter, NAV per share returned 25% versus 26.5% for the Russell 2000 Biotech and 15.4% for the Nasdaq Biotech. Year to date, NAV per share has returned 17.5% against 12.1% for the Russell 2000 Biotech and 13.2% for the Nasdaq Biotech. The £527m investment company joined the FTSE All-Share index on 22 September.
Albion Crown VCT (CRWN), a £113m technology venture capital trust, has reported a 0.87% total loss for the year to 30 June with net asset value of its ordinary shares falling to 30.33p from 32.2p after the payment of 1.59p in dividends and the declaration of a 0.76p dividend to be paid next month.
NewRiver Reit (NRR), a £306m retail-focused real estate investment trust, has appointed Rajat Dhawan, chief technology officer for New York-listed club operator Soho House & Co, to its board as an independent non-executive director.
Baronsmead Venture Trust (BVT) and Baronsmead Second Venture Trust (BMD) have published a prospectus for their share subscription offers to raise a total of up to £30m with a further £20m over-allotment facility.
