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UK & Ireland: August 2001

New entrants flood the VCT market, Bank of Scotland increases private equity investment, J Sainsbury moves into private equity investments

Mercury Grosvenor Trust announces weaker results for fast half
Mercury Grosvenor Trust, the venture trust managed by the former Mercury unit HgCapital announced a fall in earnings per share in the first half of this year to 6.9 pence from 11.4 pence in the first half of last year. The firm has blamed financial market volatility and difficult trading conditions. Net asset value per share dropped 0.2 per cent in the first half to 410.2 pence from 411.0 pence.
AltAssets 14.8.01

New VCTs spring up
Despite recent struggles of venture capital trusts to attract funding there have been a number of new entrants into the VCT market. Electra Partners, Aberdeen Growth Opportunities VCT and Union Assets Management are among these.
Venturedome 27.8.01

Morgan Grenfell Private Equity edges closer to closedown
The troubled Morgan Grenfell Private Equity looked set to be folded into Deutsche Bank Capital Partners instead of being set free for its buy-out, according to the Financial Times. Deutsche is understood to have knocked back proposals to press ahead with the buy-out. Investors will be presented with the various options under consideration next month and vote on their preferred solution.
AltAssets 13.8.01

Bank of Scotland to increase investment in private equity
Bank of Scotland  is planning to increase its private equity investment following its merger with Halifax as a strategic effort to reinforce its position in the middle market. The bank will boost its private equity investments this year by more than 60 per cent to £900m.
AltAssets 28.8.01

London and the South East still dominate private equity
London and the South East took the lion's share of the UK's non-buy-out deal volume between 1998 and now. This is according to a new survey, 'Geographic Patterns of UK Private Equity Activity' by Initiative Europe. The region saw 50 per cent of venture capital and expansion capital investment, followed by Eastern England and Scotland. The report also identifies two key trends in the UK private equity industry over the last few years: the internet has prompted an increase in early-stage investment, and there are now fewer but larger deals in the buy-out sector. The report concludes that regional differences in investment levels have increased in recent years as some areas have benefited from the technology boom. 
Unquote 6.8.01

J Sainsbury pension fund looking at first move into private equity
J Sainsbury Pension Schemes, the £2.7bn fund for the grocery giant's employees, said it was looking at investing in alternative assets for the first time. It is considering shifting as much of five per cent of its assets into hedge funds and private equity, depending on approval from trustees in October.
AltAssets 28.8.01
 
Surrey county council pension fund eyes more private equity
Surrey county council became the latest UK local authority to explore increasing its pension fund's private equity exposure. The council is looking to increase its holdings to between three and five per cent from the present level of one per cent over the next few years. A report in Global Money Management said the pension fund wanted to diversify its portfolio but also found itseLf with the money available to invest in less liquid assets.
AltAssets 23.8.01

VCs concerned over 3G delays
Investors in telecoms funds looked unlikely to see any significant return in the near future after Vodafone chief, Sir Chris Gent, announced delays to 3G. Many venture capitalists backed the telecoms sector on the back of 3G's promise and they will be faced with the difficult decision of whether to back out of these cash-burning companies or to keep financing them.
EFinancial 6.8.01

Beeson Gregory writes £8.3m off private equity portfolio
London-based investment bank Beeson Gregory wrote off £8.3m from its private equity portfolio as part of what it described as ‘respectable' results in the light of current market conditions. It announced profits of £3.2m before write-offs from £11.6m in the same period last year.
AltAssets 22.8.01

Aberdeen Development Capital announces strong results 
Aberdeen Development Capital, the private equity investment trust, provided a bright set of results. It unveiled a 23.6 per cent rise in its net asset value per share to 68.3 pence in the year to the end of May. Income from investments rose 9.9 per cent to £2.85m, with a large part of the work being done by the portfolio it acquired from Clydesdale Bank last year. The flotation of tech firm IndigoVision did much to boost these figures.
AltAssets 2.8.01

UK academia pays off
University spin-outs in the UK have been steadily increasing over the last few years, providing venture capitalists with new investment prospects. More than 310 companies have spun out of UK universities over the last three years, according to a survey by corporate finance specialists FirstStageCapital.
PrivateEquityOnline 03.8.01