Life Science REIT (LABS) has received “significant amount of interest” from potential buyers but warned its real estate portfolio fell by nearly 11% in the first half. The “Golden Triangle” property investor put itself up for sale in March as part of a strategic review launched in response to the wide discount the shares have […]
Aquila European Renewables slides 12% as preferred bidder cuts the value of its bid and board pauses sales process, and CVC Income and Growth changes the master fund it feeds into. Aquila European Renewables (AERI) shares slide 12% to 54 euro cents as its board “pauses” the sale of the company after its preferred bidder […]
Literacy Capital (BOOK), the UK-focused, smaller company private equity fund, has cut its stake in its second largest investment, Velociti Solutions, a transaction that enables a £6m return of capital to shareholders and, equally important, validates the valuation of a portfolio stuck on a double-digit discount. Literacy, named after the reading charity it supports, said […]
Update: Winterflood, the investment company broker and market maker, has been sold to Marex, a US Nasdaq-listed commodoties trading platform, for £103.9m cash. Although not well known in the UK, market observers had spotted Marex’s potential interest in the inevestment trust sector, given Angelo Sofocleous, a former Cantor Fitgerald boss, has worked for the company […]
This month, the government dismissed the idea of zonal pricing for UK energy. This would have seen areas with high energy generation and low demand, such as Scotland, pay lower bills than elsewhere in the country. Ultimately, it was deemed too complicated and disruptive. However, it removes a possible solution to the biggest conundrum of […]
Law Debenture (LWDB) smashed the UK stock market rally in the first half of the year with its investments and professional services businesses both firing on most cylinders. Interim results today showed the £1.3bn UK equity income trust made a 15% underlying return in the six months to 30 June, beating the 9.1% advance in […]
GCP Infrastructure reduces its debts with the settlement of an audit dispute and International Public Partnerships declares its first ever quarterly dividend. GCP Infrastructure (GCP) has settled a contractual dispute relating to the audits of the accreditation of a solar portfolio under the renewables obligation certification regime. Terms are confidential but the £667m company will […]
Investors holding more than two thirds of Schroders Capital Global Innovation applied to sell their shares in this month’s tender offer. The £37m tender offer of Schroders Capital Global Innovation (INOV) was oversubscribed by more than three times as investors leaped at the chance to exit the former Woodford Patient Capital Trust at asset value. […]
Update: Third Point Investors reverses yesterday’s gains as shareholders owning 14% of the hedge fund, including Asset Value Investors and Evelyn Partners, join forces to oppose its transformation plan. Angry investors holding 14% of Third Point Investors (TPOU) have formed an action group to oppose the hedge fund’s controversial plan to transform itself into a […]
Peter Spiller, lead manager of Capital Gearing Trust (CGT), has warned of the increasing risk of a gilt market crisis to force the UK government to curb spending. Labour’s recent failure to pass proposed cuts in personal independence benefit payments is a blow to the prime minister and chancellor’s plan to free up investment spending […]
Caledonia Investments confirms its 10-for-one share split will take place tomorrow and Cordiant Digital Infrastructure shares part of its Datacenter investment with a sister fund. Plus updates from AEW UK REIT, Onward Opportunities and GCP Asset Backed Income. Caledonia Investments (CLDN) confirms its 10-for-one share split will take place tomorrow. Cordiant Digital Infrastructure (CORD) confirms […]
Brunner (BUT) fund managers have apologised after UnitedHealth, the US insurer that was their second biggest holding eight months ago, crashed on fears of a Trump clampdown on the business. Shares in UnitedHealth (UNH.O) have plunged 43% this year, prompting Julian Bishop and Christian Schneider of Allianz Global Investors to dump what had been a […]
Global technology trust saw costs surge in the first half of the year as a result of the attempt to seize control of its board by activist hedge fund Saba Capital. Herald (HRI) investment trust spent nearly £750,000 defending itself against the attempted takeover by Saba Capital earlier this year, interim results show. Administrative expenses […]
CT Global Managed Portfolio cuts its management fee to boost marketing ahead of the retirement of fund manager Peter Hewitt, and activists raise their stakes in Schroder British Opportunities and Gore Street Energy Storage. CT Global Managed Portfolio Trust, which has separate growth (CMPG) and income (CMPI) portfolios, has negotiated a £135,000 cut in its […]
INPP, a £2.3bn London-listed infrastructure fund, promises good risk-adjusted returns for shareholders from its co-investment with the UK government in the nuclear plant construction project in Suffolk. The ability of London-listed investment companies to back projects of national importance was underlined today when International Public Partnerships (INPP) announced a £250m investment in Sizewell C, a […]
ICG Enterprise nets £22m from the sale of VR software provider Datasite and European Smaller Companies, International Biotechnology, Mobius and Vietnam Holding all report good gains for June. ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) has sold its co-investment in Datasite, a software provider focused on virtual data rooms that at 31 January was its fourth largest company exposure […]
Update with QuotedData comment: Apax Global Alpha (APAX) leaps to a 28-month high after its fund manager offers shareholders a 19% premium to last Friday’s share price to end the company’s ten-year stint on the stock exchange. Shares in Apax Global Alpha (APAX) have shot up 17% after the private equity fund abandoned hope of […]
Seraphim Space (SSIT) shares jumped 6% today after the Financial Times reported the Polish government was in talks to invest in ICEYE, the investment trust’s biggest holding, at a valuation “significantly higher” than $1bn (£740m). The Finnish company, which accounted for just over a quarter, or 25.5%, of Seraphim’s £239m portfolio at 31 March, has […]
Update: The embattled board of Maven Renovar VCT (MRV) has hit back at former fund manager Paul Jourdan’s “conflicted” bid to gain control of the £89m venture capital trust that controversially sacked him and his employer, Amati, last year. Publishing a circular for the shareholder meeting requisitioned by Jourdan who is seeking to be elected a […]
PRS REIT (PRSR), the £588m provider and developer of affordable family rental homes, remains in discussions with its sole potential bidder Long Harbour but has issued a “very strong” trading statement in the hope of attracting further approaches. The company, where activists Robert Naylor and Christopher Mills joined the board last October, said today it […]
Assura, the GP surgeries landlord being bought by Primary Health Properties (PHP), publishes annual results and Utilico Emerging Markets celebrates 20 years as a global infrastructure fund. Assura (AGR), the GP surgeries landlord that agreed to a £1.8bn bid from rival Primary Health Properties (PHP) last month, has published annual results showing a 9% investment […]
Stifel is recommending investors take some profits on their investment company positions after an impressive rebound from the panic over US tariffs in early April. The broker said 42 investment companies had risen more than 25% in the wake of President Trump’s sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on “Liberation Day”, which saw markets fall but then recover as the […]
Inflation is creeping back up again. The annual rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is now 3.6% or, to look at it another way, prices are almost 28% higher than they were five years ago. If we were using the old RPI measure, those figures would be 4.4% and 38%. […]
Biotech Growth (BIOG) passed its five-yearly continuation vote yesterday with 76.7% of votes in favour, but with over 23% of votes cast against the resolution, the £198m company could be vulnerable to consolidation in the sector, broker Deutsche Numis believes. Shares in the global biotech fund have slumped around 40% since the last vote in […]
NextEnergy Solar urges shareholders to vote for its continuation next month; activist fund Crystal Amber considers its future after four years of disposals; and tiny Seed Innovations is poised to switch from life sciences to AI and robotics as financier Jim Mellon prepares to re-join the board. NextEnergy Solar (NESF) has published its AGM circular […]
Shareholder discontent is rising at Gore Street Energy Storage (GSF) after the battery fund cut its dividend and was requisitioned by one of its long-term shareholders, RM Funds, to call a general meeting and overhaul its board with a view to seeking a merger. Shares in the £323m investment company tumbled 7% to 59p after […]
Peter Hicks, research analyst at Chelsea Financial Services, has made an extraordinary attack on the board of the former Amati AIM venture capital trust. In a video posted on Youtube, the VCT broker makes his strongest comments yet on behalf of shareholders dismayed by the board’s decision last year to sack Amati, the UK smaller […]
Invesco Asia Dragon publishes maiden annual results after its merger, shipping fund Taylor Maritime sells 10 vessels, Custodian Property Income starts share buybacks and Caledonia shareholders approve its share split.
TwentyFour Income (TFIF) underlined why it is one of the UK’s biggest listed debt funds today with another strong set of annual results and a further increase in the 9.7%-yielder’s dividends. The £867m investment company invests in high-yielding, floating rate asset-backed securities (ABS) in the UK and Europe, an increasingly popular area for income investors […]
Foresight Solar (FSFL), the £499m potential bid target that survived a continuation vote last month, has committed another £10m to share buybacks and reported a positive trading update. The extra £10m will bring total share purchases to £60m, marking it out as one of the renewables sector’s largest efforts to align stock prices with net […]
