Gresham House Energy Storage (GRID) has formed a strategic partnership with Summit Transition Partners (STP), a joint venture between Sumitomo Corporation of Japan and TPK Holdings, a Taiwanese touchscreen and supply chain management provider. STP will buy a 25% stake in the battery fund’s first three development projects on which it completed debt financing yesterday. These are Cockenzie (240MW/480MWh), Monets Garden (57MW/114MWh) and Elland 2 (100MW/200MWh) where construction is starting. STP is also expected to take 25% stakes in the Lister Drive (57MW/114MWh) and Ocker Hill (240MW/480MWh) developments on similar terms.
QuotedData’s Matthew Read said: “This is a welcome development for GRID. With its shares trading at a discount, issuing new equity at the listed company level is unattractive, so bringing in project-level capital from Summit Transition Partners is a sensible way to fund growth without diluting shareholders. The deal also provides useful external validation. Sumitomo and TPK are credible industrial partners, and their willingness to take 25% stakes in the first three pipeline projects suggests confidence in GRID’s assets, valuations and its development platform, which is important given the pressure on the battery storage sector and the wider scepticism towards listed renewables and infrastructure funds. There is still execution risk around construction, financing and battery revenues, but this helps answer one of GRID’s key challenges: how to progress its pipeline while the shares trade below NAV. For shareholders, the agreement brings capital, expertise and a welcome endorsement of a portfolio that the market does not appear to fully appreciate.”
Hg, the private equity fund manager of HgCapital (HGT), has made a $500m (£372m) investment in US royalties management company Rightsline, underscoring its commitment to specialist enterprise software companies despite this year’s sell-off on fears of disruption by artificial intelligence (AI). HGT, which is investing £11m in Rightsline through the Hg Mercury fund, has seen its shares tumble 30% this year to a 34% discount to net asset value. Hg partner Farouk Hussein, who is joining the Californian company’s board, said: “The company boasts an impressive roster of blue-chip customers and a consistent track record of sustained growth and retention that speaks to how deeply embedded the product is in its customers’ legal, sales, finance and operations workflows. Rightsline is incredibly well-positioned to expands its presence across its core verticals with this growth investment, and we’re excited to work hand-in-hand with management and our Hg Catalyst team to build the next generation of agentic AI products for IP [intellectual property] lifecycle management.”
Matthew Read of QuotedData said: “HgT’s latest investment is interesting because it lands squarely in the debate around SaaS valuations and AI disintermediation, an area where HgT has already suffered heavily from the market’s derating of software assets. Investors have become much more sceptical of SaaS businesses where AI could commoditise the product, weaken pricing power or reduce the need for specialist software altogether. Rightsline looks designed to address that concern. This is a specialist, mission-critical platform operating in a complex vertical, where customers need to track rights, royalties, contracts and payments across multiple territories, formats and counterparties. That complexity should make the product harder to displace, while Hg is explicitly looking to use AI to deepen the platform’s functionality rather than see it undermined by it.”
Literacy Capital (BOOK) has sold its largest holding in an externally managed fund for £4.9m cash in line with its carrying value. This is the UK private equity fund’s second fund disposal in two years and leaves it with two remaining fund stakes valued at £4.4m or 1.5% of net asset value (NAV). Fund manager Richard Pindar said all third-party fund investments pre-dated BOOK’s London stock exchange listing in 2021 and had been profitable.
QuotedData senior analyst Matthew Read said: “BOOK has been clear for some time that it wants to move away from legacy third-party fund interests and focus its capital on direct investments in profitable UK businesses, so selling its largest remaining fund interest at carrying value not only underpins the NAV but moves that process on materially – the remaining third-party fund exposure is now modest, at just 1.5% of NAV. This sale follows the 2024 sale of another fund interest at a premium to carrying value, lending further support to the robustness of BOOK’s valuations.”
Foresight Environmental Infrastructure (FGEN) has announced a 2.5% fourth quarter return, taking its total for the year to 31 March to 6.2% (NAV). Net asset value rose 0.6p to 105.2p per share in the first three months of 2026 with the total return boosted by a 1.99p quarterly dividend in line with its covered 7.96p per share target. The company is targeting a 1% increase in the payout to 8.04p for the current financial year, which would be its 12th consecutive increase since launch in 2014. The shares yield 10.5% and stand on a 28% discount to NAV.
QuotedData’s Matthew Read said: “FGEN’s 6.2% NAV total return for the year is respectable in a difficult market for listed environmental infrastructure, and the quarter underlines the benefit of diversification, with higher power price forecasts and anaerobic digestion life extensions offsetting asset-specific setbacks elsewhere. The 1.4p uplift from the first phase of AD life extensions supports the case that these assets can generate value beyond their original subsidy lives and, with further work still underway across the remaining AD portfolio, there could be more to come.
“For many shareholders, FGEN’s dividend remains a key attraction. Cover of 1.25x after project debt amortisation looks solid, and the new 8.04p target would be FGEN’s 12th consecutive annual increase. FGEN’s low double digit yield – 10.5% at the time of writing – ought to tempt investors.”
Stay a step ahead. Our daily newsletter brings you the latest on investment trusts and active ETFs. Subscribe here.
