BlackRock Latin American (BRLA) is to hold a 25% tender offer after failing to hit the performance target set by its board over four years ago despite a rebound in 2025. The £118m investment trust, whose portfolio is managed by Sam Vecht and Gordon Fraser, said its US dollar investment returns had lagged the MSCI EM Latin American index by an average of 3.3% a year in the four years to 31 December and so had failed to hit the target of beating the benchmark by 0.5% a year. However, its shares had traded at an average discount of 10.9% below net asset value, within the 12% limit set by the board. The underperformance means the trust will buy back up to a quarter of its shares at a price of 2% below NAV provided shareholders approve the continuation of the company at its annual general meeting in May. A circular detailing the tender process will be published in due course.
QuotedData’s James Carthew says: “BlackRock Latin America’s tender comes after a remarkable surge in the trust’s returns – the share price was up 49% over the past 12 months, ahead of the 46% return (in sterling) on the MSCI Latin America Index and ETFs focused on the region. As the only trust focused on Latin America, it is a shame to see it shrink, but it needs to sustain its run of outperformance if it is to justify its existence.”
PRS REIT (PRSR) is no more. Shares in the family rental home provider that agreed to a £629m takeover by Waypoint Asset Management in November were suspended yesterday ahead of a vote by shareholders to liquidate the company, and the listing was cancelled this morning.
Bellevue Healthcare (BBH) shareholders have approved the continuation of share buybacks under the zero discount policy that will be replaced when Columbia Threadneedle takes over from Bellevue Asset Management. Over 93.7% of shares voted in a general meeting yesterday supported the continuation of buybacks that have helped reduce the investment trust to £114m from £150m in October when its board concluded a strategic review prompted by the trust’s underperformance and announced the appointment of Columbia’s Kosta Kleyman. The policy has kept BBH’s discount in single digits, currently 6% but will be replaced by a new mechanism allowing shareholders to withdraw up to 15% of their capital every quarter.
Patria Private Equity (PPET) generated a 2.1% investment return in November, lifting net asset value (NAV) per share by 17.4p to 844.7p and leaving it with £1.25bn of net assets at the end of the month. The monthly gain was driven by a 3% increase in investments managed by Alan Gauld at Patria Capital Partners, offset by weakness in the dollar and the euro against the pound. Gains came across the portfolio with its primary fund, secondary fund and direct investments increasing by 2.3%, 6.9%, and 3.6% respectively over three months to 30 November. Over one year the underlying NAV total return was 10.8% but shareholders saw an 18.2% total return as the wide share price discount to NAV narrowed, although this was less than the 20% return from the FTSE All-Share. Over three years, however, shareholders have done better than an All-Share tracker, receiving a 62% total return that beats the UK stock market benchmark’s 41.3% return despite a more modest underlying 23.8% return from the portfolio. Against the new NAV, the shares – up 2% to 626.8p this morning – stand on a 26% discount giving the company a market value of £930m.
