INPP vehicle invests in fibre-optic start-up – toob Limited (toob), the start-up fibre-optic company established by former directors at Vodafone, has announced it has secured investment from the National Digital Infrastructure Fund (NDIF). NDIF was established in 2017 as a co-investment vehicle partnership between HM Government and the infrastructure trust, International Public Partnerships (INPP), that […]

LMS Capital surveying new opportunities – The small to mid-sized focused private equity trust LMS Capital (LMS) saw its NAV decline by 6.5% in the year to December 31, 2018. Highlights include: The net asset value at 31 December 2018 was £60.3m, 74.7p per share (31 December 2017: £64.5m, 79.9p per share) The portfolio showed […]

Supermarket Income REIT raises £45m in oversubscribed issue – Supermarket Income (Supr) has raised £45m through an ordinary share issue that is expected to be deployed towards the acquisition of two new supermarket assets. SUPR announced the share issue earlier this month with an initial target raise of £25m. The company owns six UK supermarket […]

Europe-focused BMO Private Equity optimistic on 2019 – BMO Private Equity (BPET) saw its NAV grow by 12.4% on a total return basis in the year to December 31, 2018. During the year the company made new investments either through funds or as co-investments, totalling £71.8m. Realisations and associated income totalled £82.7m. Over 2018, BPET re-branded […]

India the key for Fundsmith Emerging Equities – Fundsmith Emerging Equities (FEET), which predominantly owns companies that manufacture consumer staple products in emerging and frontier markets, has reported results for the year-end to December 31, 2018. A NAV fall of 3% outpaced the benchmark Index by over 5%, though the share price tracked the Index […]

Biogen Alzheimer’s failure drags down Biotech Growth – Biogen, a key holding in Biotech Growth Trust and a component of most other biotech and healthcare portfolios, has lost a third of its value after trials of an Alzheimer’s drug failed to show any benefit. Biogen and its partner, Japanese drugmaker Eisai, said they would stop […]

Hipgnosis buys three catalogues – Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited (SONG) has bolstered its portfolio with the acquisition of 3 catalogues of songs. The catalogues include songs that have globally achieved Top 10 positions on 607 charts, Top 5 on 420 charts and, most importantly, Number 1 on over 148 charts around the world. Included in […]

JPMorgan American Investment to change strategy – The Board of JPMorgan American Investment Trust (JAM) has announced its intention to change the large-cap component of the company by moving to a higher-conviction investment approach. The board has undertaken a review of the options available from the range of strategies offered by JPMorgan Asset Management, JAM’s […]

2018 a year of progress for Empiric Student Property – Empiric Student Property (ESP) has announced full year results to 31 December 31 2018. These re-affirm the fundamentally strong shape UK higher education is in on the demand side. Current occupancy stands at 97%, up 5% from year-end 2017. Key highlights from the fund’s financial […]

GCP Student Living results underline resilience of accomodation market – GCP Student Living (DIGS) showcased the resilience of the student accommodation as it reported results for the H1 period to December 31, 2018. The mostly-London focused company filled its 10 ten properties (around 3,600 beds), hitting an occupancy rate of 97% (full occupancy by its […]

Real Estate Investors continues to see HS2 related demand – Real Estate Investors (RLE), which focuses almost exclusively on commercial properties in the Midlands, had a solid year to December 31, 2018, as it continued to see the demand impact from the High Speed 2 rail project-related population migration from London, driving increased value in […]

HgCapital to exit Foundry with strong return – The private equity firm Hg, manager of the tech-focused HgCapital Trust (HGT) has announced the sale of Foundry to Roper Technologies for £410m. Hg acquired Foundry, a leading global developer of high-end visual effects and 3D design software, in 2015. HGT will receive cash proceeds of £28m from […]

Princess Private Equity direct investments drive NAV growth in 2018 – While Princess Private Equity (PEY)’s NAV in the year to December 31, 2018 was up by 6.8% percent on a total return basis, its shares were down 16% following a period of severe volatility in public markets in December, as investors went into risk-off […]

Athelney’s MD calls for board ousting ahead of April AGM – towards the end of January, we covered the exciting results of Athelney’s (ATY) EGM (All change please!) and the subsequent resignation of new appointee Paul Coffin, who resigned a few days later, leaving the other new appointee, David Lawman as the sole director of […]

Rouble weakness weighs down Raven Property’s sterling returns – Russia-focused Raven Property (RAV) made note of improving fundamentals in its year-end results to December 31, 2018, which saw vacancy rates shift down and rents increase as the wider economy strengthened. However, while the rouble valuation of the investment portfolio was up 8%, it was down […]

European Assets Trust completes redomicile to the UK – European Assets Trust’s (EAT) has completed the move of its legal domicile from the Netherlands to the UK.  There will not be any difference in the investment policy or dividend policy and the investment team will not change. EAT believes there are benefits to migrating to […]

Pyroguard sale boosts Dunedin Enterprise return in 2018 – the UK-focused private equity investment trust Dunedin Enterprise (DNE) made an NAV return of 6.4% in the year to 31 December 2018, largely on the back of valuation uplifts and realisations. Shareholders fared better with a total return of 9.4%. This was boosted by a return […]

Primary Health Properties to acquire new Kew medical centre for £4.6mn – Following its merger with MedicX Fund, Primary Health Properties (PHP) has announced that forward funding is in place for it to acquire a new primary healthcare medical centre in Kew, London. The property is due to be completed in October 2019 and will […]

New shares in Primary Health tradeable following MedicX merger – following on from the announcement on 14 March 2019 by MedicX Fund Limited and Primary Health Properties (PHP) that their merger had become unconditional in all respects, PHP announced that dealings in the new shares became effective at 8.00 a.m. today (March 15, 2019). The […]

3i Infrastructure seals Cross London sale and Tampnet buy – Following on from the completion of the sale of its 33.3% stake in Cross London on March 14, 2019, for £333mn, 3i Infrastructure plc (3I) has today finalised the acquisition of Tampnet for €226 million following the receipt of regulatory approvals in Europe and the USA. […]

Fidelity European Values stock selection stems declines in falling market – Fidelity European Values PLC (FEV) posted an NAV per share total return of -4.8% for the year ended 31 December 2018, while the benchmark index, the World Europe (ex UK) Index, returned -9.5%. The landscape across the second half of 2018 was challenging, as […]

Allianz Technology stock selection delivers benchmark beat – In the 13 months to 31 December 2018, Allianz Technology Trust’s (ATT) NAV per share increased by 9.0%. The company’s benchmark index, the Dow Jones World Technology Index (sterling adjusted, total return), increased by 0.1% over the same period. More volatility around tech For the technology sector, […]

Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon targets up to 10% in unquoteds – Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon (BGS) has reported preliminary results for the year to January 19.  The  net asset value per share (after deducting borrowings at book value) fell by 6.1% compared to a 7.8% fall in the comparative index (MSCI Japan Small Cap index). […]

Wellcome Trust charity cuts stake in Syncona – Wellcome Trust Limited, a UK biomedical charity, has confirmed that it has sold approximately 57 million ordinary shares in Syncona Limited (SYNC). This represents approximately 8.7% of Syncona’s issued ordinary share capital. The shares were sold at 245p per share, equating to gross proceeds of approximately £141m for […]

HICL Infrastructure Company (HICL) has announced that Diamond Transmission Partners, a consortium comprising HICL, Diamond Transmission Corporation Limited (a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation) and Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. has been selected by Ofgem as the preferred bidder to own and operate the Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm offshore transmission link. The Walney OFTO The […]

Oakley Capital Investments Limited has announced full-year results for the year to December 31, 2018. NAV increased by 16% to £2.81 over the period, which the company largely attributed to several successful exits. The current portfolio of 11 private companies grew average earnings at 39% and realisations returned £115 million, at a combined premium of […]

Capital and Regional has announced its full year results for the year ended 30 December 2018. During the year, the company says that there has been an increase of 4.8 per cent in Adjusted Profit to £30.5 million from £29.1 million. It says that the increase has been achieved despite the headwinds from both structural […]

Sirius Real Estate has announced that it has completed the acquisition of a business park in Bochum in the Ruhr region of Germany, for a total consideration of €25.7 million, which equates to an EPRA net initial yield of 8.9%. The seller is a fund managed by DOBA-Grund Beteiligungs, Munich, which is part of the […]

EP Global held back by US and banks exposure – EP Global reports that, for the year ended 31 December 2018, its NAV fell by 8.6%, adjusting that return for the 6.5p dividend declared for the year (a 5.5p normal dividend and a 1p special dividend) gives a total return on NAV of -7.1%. The discount […]