Grit Real Estate Income Group (GR1T), the pan-African property fund whose shares have been suspended since April, is considering delisting after disclosing two offers to sell all its real estate assets. The £32m company, which floated in 2018, said it had accepted a conditional binding offer for the disposal of its interests in GREA and Africa Property Development Managers and was in talks with a preferred prospective bidder for its remaining income-producing assets. Both transactions were complex and required detailed negotiations with its lenders, it said.
QuotedData senior analyst Richard Williams said: “A deeply disappointing development for GR1T shareholders, with the company now effectively pursuing an orderly disposal of its entire property portfolio as it struggles under the weight of its debt obligations. The acceptance of a conditional offer for its development platform, alongside progress towards selling much of its remaining income-producing portfolio, represents a significant escalation of the restructuring process. Most concerning is the board’s explicit warning that the prospects of any recovery for ordinary shareholders are extremely limited. This marks a particularly painful conclusion to a strategy that had sought to reduce leverage through selective disposals while building a higher-growth development business. Despite repeated attempts to restructure its balance sheet and dispose of assets, GR1T has ultimately been unable to overcome its mounting debt burden, exacerbated by the elevated cost of borrowing in African markets.”
Primary Health Properties (PHP) is increasing the size of its joint venture with the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) to £400m from £250m and transferring £67m of assets into the partnership. PHP, which holds a 20% equity interest, said the JV could be expanded to £800m. Proceeds from the asset sale will be used to reduce net debt, similar to the £500m released by last week’s tie-up with Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC.
Richard Williams said: “The expansion of PHP’s joint venture with USS is another positive development for the company, allowing it to further reduce debt following the acquisition of Assura. Increasing the JV’s target size to £400m, with scope to reach £800m, also provides PHP with an additional source of capital to fund future investment without placing further pressure on its balance sheet. The reaffirmation of Assura’s BBB+ credit rating, alongside an improved outlook, is another welcome sign of progress on deleveraging.”
Pantheon International (PIN) has stepped up its pace of share buybacks since its financial year-end as the £1.4bn private equity investment trust responds to pressure from activists Active Value Investors, Metage and Saba to narrow its 29% discount. The company made a 2.2% investment return last month with net asset value (NAV) per share rising to 546.3p at 30 September.
Richard Williams said: “PIN continues to deploy substantial capital into share buybacks, spending £36.1m in September alone and £160.9m since the start of June compared to the £118.4m of purchases in the previous 12 months. Repurchases at an average discount of 26.3% remain highly accretive, adding 0.7% to NAV per share during the month. However, of the 2.2% NAV increase just 0.1% came from underlying portfolio valuations. This reinforces the point we made following PIN’s annual results that stronger underlying investment performance will be needed to support a sustained narrowing of the discount. With the distribution pool reduced to £51.6m, the pace of future buybacks will also depend increasingly on portfolio realisations and further asset sales. The challenge remains balancing immediate NAV accretion against investment in the portfolio’s longer-term growth.”
Merchants Trust (MRCH) says Bill Maldonado, former chief executive of US fund manager Eastspring Investments, will join the board of the UK equity income investment trust as a non-executive director on 1 November. This is his first investment trust appointment since retiring from the Prudential subsidiary last summer. Maldonado, who previously worked at HSBC Global Asset Management, has over 30 years’ experience in investment in the UK, Asia and global markets.
HgCapital Trust (HGT) has announced a £6.1m investment in 3E with plans to help the Brussels-based renewable energy asset performance management software provider launch AI products based on its SynaptiQ platform. The £1.8bn private equity investment trust is investing through the Hg Mercury fund with other institutional clients of fund manager Hg. Hg is buying a majority stake from ReNew Energy Global, a private equity firm in India that backed 3E in 2022. San Francisco-based Galvanize Climate Solutions will join Hg as a minority co-investor. Members of 3E’s founding and management team will also continue to hold a stake. Hg said that since its founding over 25 years ago “3E has built a detailed, physics-based understanding of how renewable assets perform, backed by decades of operational data and insights that compound over time. That is the ideal foundation for building new AI products that deliver measurable value to customers.”
You’ve read the news. Now have your say. Which investment trusts, fund managers and ETFs deserve to win? You decide in the Investors’ Choice Awards 2026. Vote now.
