Gresham House has bought the venture capital trust business of Mobeus Equity Partners for £36.1 million (€42.3 million).
The deal, which is expected to be completed in the next four weeks, comprises businesses with combined assets under management of £369 million.
The group also said it had “completed the acquisition of Appian Asset Management, which has since been rebranded as Gresham House Ireland”. It described this as “an exciting platform to pursue our international growth plans”.
Gresham said assets under management at the Appian unit had jumped 13 per cent from £299 million (€350 million) in December to £340 million (€396 million).
The group added: “We foresee further growth under the new name Gresham House Ireland, both in Ireland and across the EU from this important platform.”
In Friday’s trading update, Gresham House said the Mobeus deal will see it create “a leading player” in the VCT segment with a combined £850 million of assets under management.
The company said it intends to raise £40 million through a placing, which includes a £20 million cash placing of 2,197,802 new ordinary shares of 25 pence each, priced at 910 pence per placing share.
It will use £26 million for the purchase of Mobeus and the remaining £14 million will be used to fund development projects such as battery storage and solar projects, which are intended to be acquired by vehicles managed by Gresham House.
The firm expects to deliver an annualised operating profit increase of £4.5 million and return on invested capital of more than 15 per cent. – Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2021
