Proposed Change of Name, Website and Messaging

Duke Royalty Limited

05 February 2024

 

5 February 2024

Duke Royalty Ltd

('Duke' or 'the Company')

Proposed Change of Name, New Website, Renewed Messaging and Investor Presentations

Duke is pleased to announce the outcome of its previously reported review of the SME Financing sector and to update the market on its proposed change of name to Duke Capital, new corporate website and renewed messaging.

Conclusions from our review

Duke's review has focused on ensuring that its unique offering is communicated to business owners and stakeholders in a way which provides greater clarity and improves comparison when evaluating a broad array of financing options. We believe this is in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders for the following reasons:

·      The global private credit market is a large, rapidly growing and evolving segment of the financial sector, which includes direct lending, mezzanine, high-yield debt and other alternative products such as royalties

·      Private credit, and especially direct lending (ie non-bank lending) has become more widely accepted in the SME sector in the last decade, and we believe Duke's solution is best classified as direct lending

·      Duke has a seven-year track record in providing long-term, unique financing solutions to the lower mid-market in the UK, Europe and North America with current invested capital of over £200 million

·      During that time, traditional royalty companies in the mining, music and pharmaceutical sectors have proliferated, especially in the public markets, which has resulted in confusion about Duke's solution for lower mid-market businesses which has, to date, been known as 'corporate royalties'

·      By reframing our product as 'hybrid capital', we can more easily convey the attributes of our financing solution to business owners and investors and build on our momentum

·      We define hybrid capital as a financing solution that blends features of private equity and private credit products and is more flexible than traditional debt or equity alone

·      Despite the name change, our core product, investing policy and investment criteria are not changing, and we will continue to provide business owners with our unique 'corporate mortgage' debt product with equity-like attributes which align our success with the success of the business

Additional flexibility for investing 

·      Going forward, Duke will have additional flexibility to take equity ownership over 30% if and when situations necessitate or there is clear rationale to do so for our shareholders. The Company will maintain the same investment approach which, unlike private equity, is not looking to take control of the business or force an exit

·      This additional flexibility is intended to benefit investors by enabling Duke in certain circumstances to continue longer with our best performing partners and ensure our capital growth is maximised, while not affecting our recurring cash revenue during the investment

·      Duke will continue to focus on receiving monthly recurring cash revenue from its partners, and will continue to invest in profitable, long-established private businesses which provide investors with exposure to a broad range of sectors in UK, Western Europe and North America

Name change to Duke Capital  

·      To reflect our renewed messaging, Duke proposes to change its name to Duke Capital Limited following an Extraordinary General Meeting ("EGM"), further details of which can be found below

·      Other than the change of name, there will be no change to the dividend policy, the stock symbol (ticker) or the shares outstanding

·      The Company has launched a new corporate website: www.dukecapital.com

Duke CEO Neil Johnson said, "I'm excited to share the findings of our recent review of our positioning in the marketplace.  Over the past seven years we have talked to hundreds of business owners looking to receive capital but retain control and have listened to what resonates with them about having Duke as a partner. Making the features of our product more easily relatable versus other financing options gives us a bigger opportunity to engage with more business owners who are used to thinking in either 'debt' or 'equity'.

"Investors are likely aware that the private credit and private equity sectors continue to converge, and we believe Duke has been at the forefront of this convergence for many years.  By clarifying how we describe our product, we aim to appeal to a broader cross-section of investors who want exposure to Duke's unique and proven private credit offering.

"This evolving industry is also rapidly growing. In particular, Blackrock estimates direct lending has increased over six-fold in the last decade to $650 billion and is now the largest segment of the private credit market. With our renewed positioning and additional flexibility, we believe we can become an increasingly important lower mid-market capital provider which will benefit both shareholders and business owners alike."

Proposed change of name and Notice of EGM

Duke provides notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held at 10:30 a.m. on 20 February 2024 at the Company's registered office, Ground Floor, Cambridge House, Le Truchot, St Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 1WD to approve its change of name to Duke Capital Limited (the "Notice"). The Notice is today being posted to shareholders, together with an accompanying form of proxy, an electronic copy of which will shortly be available to view on the Company's website.

The Company's TIDM, 'DUKE', will remain unchanged as will its ISIN.

The Company will make a further announcement following the EGM to confirm once the name change is effective.

Investor Presentations  

The management team is available to update shareholders at the following events and will also put recordings on the website when they become available.

AJ Bell 'LIVE' Investor Evening

Duke will be presenting at the Shares and AJ Bell 'LIVE' investor evening in London on Tuesday 6 February 2024, starting at 17:15, at the Novotel Tower Bridge, London EC3N 2NR.

Neil Johnson, CEO, will present the latest developments and available to answer questions. If you would like to attend, you can register for the event here.

MelloMonday

Duke will be presenting at the MelloMonday webinar on Monday 19 February 2024 starting at 5pm via Zoom Webinar.

Neil Johnson, CEO, will be providing a trading update to webinar participants during the event and will be taking questions after.  If you would like to attend, you can register here for a free ticket for the event using code SHR100.  The recording will be sent out to all registrants within 48 hours of the event.

**ENDS**

For further information, please visit www.dukecapital.com, or contact:

Duke	Neil Johnson / Charles Cannon Brookes / Hugo Evans	[phone]
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)	Stephen Keys / Callum Davidson / Michael Johnson	[phone]
Canaccord Genuity (Joint Broker)	Adam James / Harry Rees	[phone]
SEC Newgate (PR)	Elisabeth Cowell / Alice Cho / Matthew Elliott	[phone] [e-mail]

About Duke

Duke is a leading provider of hybrid capital solutions for SME business owners in Europe and North America, combining the best features of both equity and debt.

Since 2017, Duke has provided unique long-term financing which eliminates re-financing risk and necessity for a short-term exit by providing a unique 'corporate mortgage' while also aligning its returns to grow with the success of the business.

Duke is focused on generating attractive risk-adjusted returns for shareholders and has a track record of achieving this across market cycles. It's three investment pillars are capital preservation, attractive dividend yield, and to provide upside upon exits.

Duke is listed on the AIM market under the ticker DUKE and is headquartered in Guernsey.

 

END