Literacy Capital (BOOK), the £236m UK private equity fund on a 22% discount, will pay off its remaining debts after selling Tyrefix, a provider of plant tyre repair services, to Nordic rival Citira AB. BOOK is selling its entire stake in the company, which it first backed in November 2020, for £14.7m in cash at a 59% premium to the previous valuation of £9.3m when it was the fund’s 12th largest holding at 3% of net assets. This represents a 2.5 times return on the company’s first investment. It’s the third disposal by BOOK in six months which have been sold at an average premium of 39%, generating proceeds of £81.2m from businesses originally valued at £58.6m. BOOK shares rose 2.5%, or 10p, to 404p. Richard Pindar, CEO of BOOK’s investment manager, said: “Despite a challenging M&A environment in the mid-market, Literacy Capital has generated a substantial amount of cash since July 2025. In the nine months to 31 March 2026, we expect BOOK to generate more than £65m in cash from asset sales and refinancings, whilst retaining a valuable stake in Velociti,” the software provider to bus and rail operators it part sold last summer to fund a £6m return of capital.
James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData, said: “Another great exit by Literacy Capital that drives net asset value higher and cements it as, in NAV terms, one of the best-performing private equity funds over the past year. I understand why the shine came off it following the announcement of higher fees and lower charitable donations in October 2024. However, the discount now looks overly wide in my view.”
Workspace (WKP), the flexible office space provider that changed chief executive this week as it tries to fend off a wind-down demand from activist Saba Capital, said it made good progress on its recovery programme in its third quarter to 31 December. In the last three months of the year 322 lettings were made with total rental value of £10.2m, up from 273 and £6m a year earlier. A total of £67.9m of “low conviction assets” were sold and like-for-like occupancy improved 0.9% to 81.2%, although like-for-like rent per square foot fell 1.4% to £47.13, driving a 0.1% dip in like-for-like rent roll in the quarter to £104.1m. Chief financial officer Dave Benson said: “We know we still have a long way to go to fully stabilise and rebuild occupancy, but these signs give us confidence that our strategy is delivering and that we are on the right path. We look forward to welcoming our new CEO, Charlie Green, in early February as we accelerate the execution of our strategy.”
City of London (CLIG), the £196m specialist investor in investment companies, has appointed Cooper Abbott, founder of Carillon Tower Advisors, as its new chief executive. Abbott, who also served as chair and CEO of Matthews International Capital Management, brings more than two decades of senior investment management experience to the role. He succeeds Tom Griffith who stepped down last July. Abbott said he was “honoured” and had “long admired CLIG’s unique value proposition”. The group has $11.2bn assets under management in strategies involved in buying closed-end funds on discounts.
RTW Biotech Opportunities (RTW) was a small beneficiary of yesterday’s $2.2bn acquisition of RAPT Therapeutics (RAPT.O) by UK’s second biggest drugmaker GSK. Saba-backed RTW had 0.15% of its assets in the Californian company developing a drug, ozureprubart, to protect people from severe food allergies, which affect more than 17m in the US alone. GSK is paying $58 per share, a 65% premium to the closing price on Monday. Rod Wong, CIO of fund manager RTW Investments, said: “This is the second acquisition from the company’s portfolio so far in 2026, following Boston Scientific’s acquisition of Penumbra last week. We think that 2026 will be a stand-out year for biotech M&A as policy risks recede and large pharmas seek to replenish their pipelines in the face of a cumulative $170bn patent cliff looming by 2032.”
Invesco Global Equity Income Trust (IGET) has published a circular detailing its proposed merger with Franklin Global Trust (FRGT) that was announced in November.
QuotedData’s James Carthew said: “The Franklin Global/Invesco Global Equity Income deal was announced in mid-November and the gap between FRGT and IGET’s performance has only widened since then. With the Invesco trust trading on a premium, my inclination would be to roll into IGET rather than tick the cash at a 2% discount exit box.”
JPMorgan Emerging Europe, Middle East & Africa Securities (JEMA) provides an update on the Russian litigation it is involved in, saying VTB Bank’s appeal to the Court of Cassation in relation to its total claims of $703 against eight JPMorgan entities including JEMA will be heard on 16 February.
Wealth manager Rathbones has emerged with a 5.6% stake in Onward Opportunities (ONWD), the £43m UK smaller companies trust managed by Laurence Hulse at Dowgate Wealth. This follows the release of a positive full-year trading update last week.
US value investor Allspring Global increases its holding in Baillie Gifford Japan (BGFD) from 11% to 12%.
Montanaro Asset Management now holds 10% of Montanaro European Smaller Companies (MTE) up from 9% as a result of “an event changing the breakdown of voting rights” not share purchases.
Goldman Sachs has lifted its position in the £8m rump of Abrdn Property Income (API) from 11.8% to 16.5%. The winding-down company sold most of its assets to GoldenTree Asset Management in November 2024.
