City of London writes to shareholders of Lazard World Trust – City of London Investment Management (CLIG), who run the investment trust City of London (CTY), has written a letter to the Directors of Lazard World Trust Fund (WTR) explaining its intention to oppose renewing the WTR’s buyback authority at the EGM to be held on 30 August, 2018. CLIG comments that […]
WPCT set to record £33m gain on Sensyne Health IPO Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) looks set to record a £33m gain and a 45x return on its original shareholding in the UK healthcare AI firm Sensyne Health, as a result of the company’s IPO on the London stock exchange. Sensyne, which was founded and […]
Regional REIT completes sale of Wardpark, Cumbernauld – Regional REIT (RGL) has announced that it has exchanged and completed the sale of multi-let industrial estate Wardpark, Cumbernauld. Uplift on disposal The sale price of £26.4m was 21.1% above the December 2017 year end valuation. Wardpark, Cumbernauld, which Regional REIT acquired in 2013, covers a total of 829,851 […]
Alnylam receives expected FDA ok for Onpattro Biotech trust stock favourite Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALNY) received its first FDA approval late on Friday for Onpattro (patisiran) for the treatment of polyneuropathy in adults with hereditary transthyretin-mediated (hATTR) amyloidosis. However, the FDA did not allow a broader label that included patients with cardiomyopathy (CM), leading to […]
BG-backed Orchard raises $150m on the back of GSK deal Baillie Gifford-backed US-UK gene therapy company Orchard Therapeutics has raised $150m in a Series C financing just four months after acquiring GlaxoSmithKline’s portfolio of investigational and approved rare disease gene therapies. The financing was led by Deerfield Management, a leading US healthcare investor, and included more than […]
Phaunos Timber rejects Stafford’s Offer – the Chairman of Phaunos Timber (PTF) has sent a letter to Phaunos Shareholders, giving them an update on plans to wind up the company and to reject the cash offer made on 3rd July by Stafford Capital Partners. This is the latest communication from the Board of Phaunos in a long running saga, where […]
FDA sets Feb target review date for IBT-backed Stemline Therapeutics The US FDA has accepted Stemline Therapeutics (Nasdaq:STML)’s filing for Elzonris (tagraxofusp) for review for blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN), an extremely rare haematological cancer, and with priority review, the agency has set itself a PDUFA target action date of 21 February 2019 – although […]
Woodford finally closes chapter on failed Vernalis investment Neil Woodford’s eponymous Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) will have to look forward to receiving just £1.8m for the 30.6m shareholding – acquired in 2015 for £18.5m – in Vernalis, the UK biotech whose failed endeavour to break into the US cough/cold market led to it being put up […]
Syncona remains at high premium and highly geared to Autolus Syncona (SYNC)‘s shares have been the second best performer this year among the 14 biotech investment trusts monitored by Marten & Co, rising by 24.5% in the first seven months to end July. However, the trust’s NAV has only gained 8.7% in the period and […]
Vietnam Opportunities extracts itself from chicken farm – VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund has reached an agreement with Ba Huan JSC, a Vietnamese poultry producer, to cease its investment, with all capital being returned to the fund. In February 2018, VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity announced that it had invested USD32.5 million to acquire a significant minority stake in Ba Huan. […]
JPMorgan Brazil struggles in a politically-driven market – During JPMorgan Brazil (JPB)’s financial year to 30th April 2018, Brazil’s equity market experienced a highly volatile period mainly driven by political concerns. Performance The company recorded more modest sterling returns this year as the Brazilian currency, the Real significantly weakened against Sterling by some 17%. The total return on net assets was […]
Pantheon International has had a “milestone year” – In his introductory comment to Pantheon International (PIN)‘s full report for the twelve months to 31st May 2018, chairman Sir Laurie Magnus noted that the company had celebrated its 30 year anniversary, simplified its capital structure and entered the FTSE 250 index, in what he saw as a milestone […]
NextEnergy Solar adds 282 rooftop solar assets to its portfolio – NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF) has added a further 1.15MW of capacity through the acquisition of two portfolios of roof top solar assets in the UK. This is the company’s second rooftop portfolio acquisition. The company has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire the two portfolios for a total investment […]
Regional REIT successfully raises £50 million in bond issue – In July, we reported Regional REIT (RGL)‘s plans to to issue bonds – click here to read that story The company has announced that it has successful raised £50 million and that the bonds have been admitted to trading on London Stock Exchange today (7th August 2018) The […]
Investment Trust Insider on Syncona James Carthew: the problem with Syncona’s big premium Regular readers of this column will have realised that I often have as much of a problem with investment trusts trading on very high premiums as I do with trusts trading on very wide discounts. I explained a couple of weeks ago […]
Trust favourite Alnylam approaches key FDA decision Biotech trust stock favourite Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ALNY) should find out later this week whether the FDA will grant approval to its first product, Onpattro (patisiran), for hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (or hATTR). In this case, unusually, there is relatively little concern that Onpattro may not receive US approval and the […]
IBT backed Regeneron teams up with Bluebird on T cell cancer therapies US top tier biotech Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN) is to make a $100m equity investment at a 59% premium in the gene therapy pioneer Bluebird Bio, as part of a newly established collaboration to develop and commercialise novel immune cell therapies for cancer. Regeneron is […]
Arix leads first VIPE into Pharmaxis LSE-quoted life science investor Arix Bioscience (ARIX) is to acquire an 11% interest in Pharmaxis (ASX: PXS) in its first VIPE or venture investment in public equity. Arix led a A$24m placing in the Australian biotech, in which it will invest A$14.2m for a 11% holding. This will mean the […]
Aberdeen Standard Logistics buys Dutch logistics warehouse – Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income has signed an agreement to acquire a freehold logistics warehouse in Ede in the Netherlands for a net value of EUR26.5 million from David Hart Group. A fully CPI-indexed lease has been signed with Dutch retail and pharmacy operator Kruidvat (part of the A […]
Another great year for Henderson Smaller Companies – Over the year to the end of May 2018, Henderson Smaller Companies says its share price has risen by 23.8%, and the net assets by 15.9%, substantially outperforming its benchmark, the Numis Smaller Companies Index (excluding investment companies), by 10.6% – the return on the index was 5.3%. The chairman points […]
Hansteen buys portfolio from St Modwen – Hansteen has exchanged contracts to acquire a mixed-use portfolio of 34 properties. The properties are located throughout the UK with a focus on the North West and the West Midlands for £53.7m, reflecting a net initial yield after costs of 9.15% and a low capital value of £41 per sq […]
John Laing Infrastructure bid recommended by board – the Dalmore Capital / Equitix bid for John Laing Infrastructure Fund is now official and has been recommended by JLIF’s board. The terms – 142.5p cash and 3.57p in dividends are unchanged. Bidco (the company formed to make the offer) has received irrevocable undertakings to vote or procure votes to approve […]
Impact Healthcare adds another five care homes – Impact Healthcare REIT has exchanged contracts to acquire five care homes with a combined total of 218 beds for a total consideration of £12.15m. The homes are: Briardene Care Home, Sovereign Lodge and Sovereign Court, all in Westerhope to the west of Newcastle; Derwent Care Home in Hamsterley, Durham; […]
Foresight Solar buys 15 solar assets – Foresight Solar Fund Limited has completed the acquisition of a 100% interest in a portfolio of 15 operational solar assets in the UK with a total installed capacity of 114 MW for approximately £47m, including the benefit of all cash flows from the portfolio since 1 April 2018. This deal […]
Summit Germany takes control of GxP German Properties – Summit Germany has entered into an unconditional agreement to acquire around 72% of GxP German Properties AG, a company listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, from Consus Real Estate AG and other minority holders. GxP owns an office portfolio of ca. EUR166 million in major German cities, mainly […]
Tekla Healthcare top specialist fund performer in July Tekla Healthcare Opportunities, a US closed end fund that invests largely in US large cap pharma and biotech, saw the best investment performance of the 14 specialist biotech specialist investors monitored by Marten & Co, in terms of its sterling-adjusted NAV performance for the month of July. Switzerland’s BB […]
Trust favourite Neurocrine’s shares rise on strong Ingrezza report Neurocrine Biosciences (Nasdaq: NBIX), the US biotech that is the largest single holding for International Biotechnology Trust (IBT, 5.5% of NAV) and second largest for BB Biotech (BBB.S, 8.9% of NAV), has seen its share rise by more than 15% this week on the back of a strong […]
Arix remains highly geared to Autolus value Arix Bioscience’s 8% investment in Autolus Therapeutics (Nasdaq: AUTL), the recently floated second-generation CAR-T company, now accounts for more than half of the value of its investments, some 25% of its NAV and almost 30% of its stockmarket value, according to calculations by Marten & Co. Arix is by far […]
Ranger reports positive development in Princeton fight – the bankruptcy court has already ruled that portions of Ranger Direct Lending‘s claims against Princeton and the general partner in pending arbitration proceedings could proceed and be fully adjudicated. The arbitration panel has now rendered a “Partial Final Award” on Phase I of the arbitration as follows: Princeton breached […]
Better second half for Diverse Income but annual result still lags All-Share – Over the year to the end of May 2018, Diverse Income Trust generated a return on NAV of 5.2%, a little less than the return on the All-Share Index of 6.5%. total dividends rose by 13.3% to 3.4p and there is also a special dividend of 0.23p. […]
