DX Group shares regain some ground after activist fund Gatemore builds stake and demands seat on board Activist investment AIM-listed delivery company DX Group’s shares jumped as much as 13 per cent today after activist fund Gatemore Capital Management sent a letter to the company announcing it had built a substantial stake and requested a seat on its board. In a letter to DX Group’s board members this morning, Gatemore said it had accumulated [...]
Lord Sainsbury’s family office plots £253m investment into private equity funds Private equity Lord David Sainsbury, the great grandson of Sainsbury’s founder, plans to bet big on private equity funds through his family office Innotech Advisers, according to a UK registry filing. The London-based firm, which has stepped away from public markets to invest in private companies – predominantly through loans and participation in limited partnerships with independent [...]
AJ Bell wades into commission-free retail investing space and plots launch of new app ‘Dodl’ Retail investing AJ Bell has today announced it is wading into the crowded low-cost retail investing space with the planned launch of a new “easy to use” app called Dodl, to sit alongside its existing consumer platform Youinvest. In an effort to compete with the lowest cost investment platforms in the market and attract first-time investors, Dodl [...]
Molten Ventures’ tech bets pay off as portfolio value leaps almost 30 per cent to £1.35bn November 29, 2021 Molten Ventures, formerly Draper Esprit, has seen a 27 per cent jump in its portfolio value to £1.35bn in the last six months, the London-listed tech venture capital firm said this morning. In its first interim results since floating on London’s main market in July, the firm said the value of its tech investments had [...]
UK ‘impact’ startups gain £2bn firepower in 2021, driven by climate tech sector November 29, 2021 Impact startups in the UK – defined as those founded to actively build solutions to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals – have raked in £2bn in investment this year, according to a new Dealroom analysis. As investors grow increasingly wary of corporate greenwashing, so-called “impact investing” in companies that are founded to generate positive [...]
UK VC fund performance spiked this year – and so did competition for deals November 26, 2021 UK venture capital performance increased sharply in the last year, as the value of funds’ investment picks appreciated almost in line with those of the US, according to research by British Business Bank (BBB) published today. VC funds have seen their total value to paid-in (TVPI) multiple – the metric used to track the value [...]
Hambro Perks looks to be first out of the gate with £150m London SPAC listing November 23, 2021 VC firm Hambro Perks has today announced it is targeting a listing of up to £150m in London via a special purpose acquisition vehicle (SPAC), in what could make it the first out of the gate since the City watchdog overhauled blank-cheque listing rules. Hambro Perks Acquisition Company – the name of the SPAC – [...]
Exclusive: Most investors could not care less about ESG and sustainability November 23, 2021 With COP26 only weeks behind us, more than half of UK investors admit sustainable investing is not a priority for them, with just under 45 per cent saying it is important and it is a priority in their investment portfolio. In fact, less than a third of British investors say COP26 and the UK government’s [...]
Union seeks urgent meeting with Unilever for ‘cast iron guarantee’ of factory workers’ futures November 19, 2021 Unite the Union has called for urgent talks with Unilever after it announced the sale of its tea business to a private equity firm. Unilever confirmed the £3.79bn sale of its tea division – including household names such as PG Tips and Lipton – to CVC yesterday following an auction process. Unite pointed to CVC’s [...]
CEO of Close Brothers asset management arm to step down November 18, 2021 Martin Andrew, the CEO of Close Brothers’ asset management arm, today announced he will step down from his role after thirteen years at the helm, to “pursue the next stage of his career.” Commenting on his departure, Andrew said: “It has been a privilege to lead CBAM and serve our clients over many years and [...]