Ocean Wilsons (OCN) says “adverse weather conditions resulting from the proximity of Hurricane Melissa to Bermuda” have delayed the court sanction hearing into shareholder Arnhold’s objections to its merger with Hansa Investment Company (HANA). The hearing started on Thursday but due to reduced court time will continue this week. Ocean Wilsons will make a further announcement regarding the timetable of the merger in due course
Saba Capital has disclosed a 6.2% stake in Diverse Income (DIVI), the £247m UK equity income trust managed by Gervais Williams and Martin Turner at Premier Miton. This is the first time the activist hedge fund, which has established dozens of positions in UK investment companies, has published a holding in Diverse Income, whose shares stand on an 8.7% discount to net asset value, having outperformed in the year to 31 May but suffered from two years of big redemptions.
Macau Property Opportunities (MPO) confirms it intends to proceed with a “modest equity capital raise” to ensure that debt repayments are met as well as meeting short-term working capital obligations. It warns that should the capital raise be unsuccessful the options for the company will be “adverse” with a bank loan default possible if assets cannot be sold. The update came in annual results showing net asset value fell 43.1% to $37.6m in the year to 30 June with NAV per share of 61 cents (44p). The shares stand at 14p, having plunged 91% in the past 10 years, valuing the company at £9m.
Partners Group Private Equity (PEY) has sold Clario, the Philadelphia-based data analytics provider to drugs companies that was its eighth-largest holding, to Thermo Fisher Scientific. The transaction was in line with the €27.5m valuation of the holding. Shares in PEY, a £721m investment company, stand at a 24% discount to net asset value (NAV).
Matthew Read, senior analyst at QuotedData, said: “Although today’s announcement of the sale of Clario does not include an internal rate of return (IRR) for Partners Group Private Equity’s investment in Clario and its predecessor eResearch Technology, we can see that it has made a two-times money multiple since first investing in 2020, which roughly equates to 20% per annum on its overall investment. Many companies are choosing to stay private for longer and this sale – achieved at NAV – illustrates the sort of returns that private equity can achieve by buying and building. Patience is required but, given the long-term returns private equity is able to achieve, the significant discounts seen on many listed private equity funds do not make sense to us.”
Octopus Renewables Infrastructure (ORIT) has cut £12.9m off the value of its green certificates as it adopts a more conservative assessment of what has been a volatile part in the £308m’s portfolio. This knocked 2.4p off net asset value (NAV) per share in the third quarter but was offset by a slight increase in power price and inflation forecasts and also currency movements to leave NAV per share 1p lower at 98.46p at 30 September. This puts ORIT in the middle of the two Greencoat funds that reported last week: with Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 2% lower and Greencoat Renewables (GRP) flat. Last week ORIT sold stakes in two renewable energy developers as part of a capital allocation strategy that saw it buy back £8.2m of shares in the three-month period. The shares stand on a 42% discount and yield 9.7%.
Abrdn European Logistics Income (ASLI) has completed the disposal of three more assets in Poland as part of its managed wind-down. The three multi-let warehouse estates located in Krakow, Lodz and Warsaw in Poland were sold for a total €84m at around a 5% discount to their second quarter valuation. The properties, with over 91,000 square metres of leasable area, were built between 2018 and 2020. They were marked at their sales values in the recently announced third quarter net asset value.
New Star (NSI) investment trust, and £86m global funds portfolio run by Brompton Asset Management, returned 2.1% in the year to 30 June, underperforming the 5.6% average of open-ended funds in the IA Mixed Investment 40%-85% Shares sector and 7.6% from the MSCI World index. An underweight to the US and “Mag7” tech giants in particular were the main factors.
Fair Oaks Income (FAIR), the £216m investor in high-yield corporate debt, secured over 99% of shareholder votes in favour of its continuation and for turning the master fund in which it invests into an “evergreen” fund with no fixed life but with the facility to withdraw 20% of capital every four years.
Ashoka Whiteoak Emerging Markets (AWEM), a £58m growth fund trading on a narrow 1% discount below net asset value (NAV), has announced the details of its annual 100% voluntary redemption opportunity. The deadline to submit requests to sell shares at NAV is 1 December.
India Capital Growth (IGC), a £149m mid-cap fund standing on an 11% discount, has given more details of its annual redemption opportunity that allows investors to sell their holdings at 3% below net asset value. The deadline to submit sales requests is 28 November.
