Investment in Strategic Equity Capital

RNS Number : 6068Y

Gresham House PLC

14 May 2021

 

14 May 2021

Gresham House plc

("Gresham House and affiliates", the "Company" or the "Group")

Investment in Strategic Equity Capital

Gresham House (AIM: GHE), the specialist alternative asset manager, is pleased to announce the purchase of shares in Strategic Equity Capital plc ("SEC"), by Gresham House and its affiliates, equating to 5.4% of the share capital. This investment in shares confirms the Company's indication, made at the time of the appointment of Gresham House Asset Management Limited ("GHAM") as investment manager of SEC, on 27 March 2020, to acquire a significant number of shares in SEC through the secondary market over the medium-term.

Commenting on the transaction, Gresham House Chief Executive and Chair of the Investment Committee, Tony Dalwood said: "This purchase of shares is in line with Gresham House's practice of aligning its interests as investment manager with those of clients. With significant resources, both investment and distribution, in place, together with a robust Strategic Public Equity process refined over its successful 20-year track record, we believe we are well placed to generate value for shareholders of SEC over the long term."

Gresham House commenced its role in May 2020 with a clear mandate to improve Net Asset Value (NAV) and share price performance, and to narrow the Trust's discount. Gresham House is committed to these long-term goals and has put in place a clear plan to achieve them which has made significant progress to date through increased profile and investment process enhancements.

As part of this plan Ken Wotton - the top-ranked manager with an outstanding 10-year track record of stock selection in this area - was made lead manager of SEC on 29 September 2020 alongside existing fund manager Adam Khanbhai plus substantial resources including an experienced investment committee. Since then the share price and NAV have risen significantly, by 58.2% and 42.8% respectively.

Both Ken and Adam are supported by the Gresham House platform and network in Strategic Public Equity. This equity platform manages c.£1bn of AUM, combining both a public and private equity capability that underpins this specialist investment strategy.

SEC was launched by SVG Investment Managers Limited ("SVGIM") in 2005 with a distinctive investment strategy to apply private equity techniques to public equities. At the time of its launch, SVGIM was led by Gresham House CEO Tony Dalwood, supported by a broad private equity platform.

Gresham House, as a specialist asset manager with AUM of £4.0 billion, believes it is a strong partner for this differentiated investment approach which targets superior performance over the long term.

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Gresham House plc Tony Dalwood, Chief Executive Kevin Acton, Chief Financial Officer	[phone]
Houston Alexander Clelland Anushka Mathew	[e-mail] [phone]
Canaccord Genuity Limited - Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Bobbie Hilliam Georgina McCooke	[phone]
Jefferies International Limited - Financial Adviser and Joint Broker Paul Nicholls Max Jones	[phone]

 

 

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