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"At the end of last month, the Odey fund's merger arbitrage positions were: Crystal Amber at 5% of net asset value, Liberty Media (SPAC) at 4.8%, Resolute Forest at 4.6%, South Jersey at 4.3%, Emis Group at 3.4%, and Intertrust at 2.4%."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobwolinsky/2022/10/21/how-this-odey-fund-preserved-capital-in-september---and-so-far-all-year-long/?sh=aadac9b28703
Getting fed up with this, when is CRS going to liquidate and pay out?
The HUR situation needs to be clarified asap. HUR a debt free cash cow delivering 9,000 bopd at somewhere around $90 a barrel and yet CRS has not extracted fair value from it? A number of ways this could be done yet silence from both boards on where we go with HUR?
I too an interested in buying into this company - however when i try to get a price through IG...They only offer the fund for for sale and not the company. Can you buy the company through other providers or is the fund only available to buy? I am looking to derisk my holding in HUR!
I'm interested in buying shares here (have been with HUR for years), and the dividends look good. Well, great! From what I've read, the next is paid in Feb, if bought before mid-end of Dec. Am I right or wrong? Thanks.
I am increasingly optimistic that HUR will deliver cash and profits in 2023. What CRS does with their 29% I have no clear idea but my best guess is that they will sell at some point next year if the price is right.
Good Op Update from HUR today but sp unmoved!
They are debt free this month and still producing 8,600 bopd.
Very nice RNS. BOD being true to their words. Just have to sit and wait now, what's not to like in this kind of environment we're in. Maybe SP might even drift higher in the meantime too GLA
Agree, bought back in this morning.
Showing as Sells here, great entry price
Just a reminder it is closing down .
Crystal Amber Fund (CRS), the activist investment fund, said it will not make investments in any new companies after a continuation vote at its annual general meeting last month failed to hit the 75 per cent threshold required for it to continue.
The fund said its board believed it was in the interest of shareholders for it to maximise capital by disposing of the shares, “including trade sales of the fund's strategic holdings, where appropriate”. It intends to sell its holdings within two years.
Crystal Amber has been in business since 2008 and has taken concentrated stakes in companies through which it seeks changes to improve shareholder value. It owns 28.9 per cent of shares in Hurricane Energy (HUR) (pictured), a 20.5 per cent stake in Equals Group (EQLS), 18.2 per cent of Allied Minds (ALM) and substantial holdings in other businesses including money printer De La Rue (DLAR) and Sutton Harbour (SUH). Its five largest holdings make up 89 per cent of the fund's assets.
In June this year New York-based Saba Capital, which acquired a 26.2 per cent share in the fund, said it would vote against its continuation. In total, shareholders with 49.4 per cent of voting rights sided against a resolution seeking Crystal Amber's continuation last month.
At the time of that vote, Crystal Amber Fund said Saba Capital and another US hedge fund had shorted shares in De La Rue and Allied Minds, so had “insulated themselves against the negative impact of an accelerated monetisation of assets”.
The fund’s net asset value fell to 142.7p per share last month, from 155.8p at the end of October. Its share price rose 4 per cent to 110p after it announced plans to pay an interim dividend of 10p per share.
HUR up 15% yet CRS down 2%? A little disappointed as HUR now on the way to break even for the fund and could become a profit by mid summer. CRS own 28.9% of HUR so this sp move is potentially a game changer.
According to today's RNS we are still trading at 30% below NAV. Is anyone else tempted to add more to their stake?
"As a result of the continuation vote not being passed, the Board believes that it is in the interests of Shareholders as a whole for the Fund to adopt a strategy of maximising capital returned to Shareholders by way of timely disposals, including trade sales of the Fund's strategic holdings, where appropriate. Such change of strategy is subject to Shareholder approval at the Extraordinary General Meeting.
The Fund has accumulated several strategic holdings: since 2013, the Fund has been a shareholder in Hurricane Energy plc (it currently has a 28.9 per cent. holding); since 2016, it has been a shareholder in Equals Group plc (it currently has a 13 per cent. holding); since 2017, it has been a shareholder in Allied Minds plc (it currently has an 18.2 per cent. holding); since 2018, it has been a shareholder in De La Rue plc (it currently has a 10 per cent. holding) and it has been a shareholder in Sutton Harbour plc for more than a decade (it currently has a 10.8 per cent. holding). Given the substantial progress achieved by the Fund with its activist strategy to date on these holdings, the Fund expects to have realised these investments by 31 December 2023. Within this timescale, the Fund also anticipates selling its holding in Board Intelligence plc, an unquoted company in which it has been a shareholder since 2018.
The Fund has a track record of returning cash to Shareholders via share buybacks and dividends: since 2013, when the requirement for the continuation vote to be proposed at the 2021 AGM was introduced, £60 million has been returned to Shareholders via such means. The Fund intends to return all net proceeds from its holdings in Hurricane Energy plc, Allied Minds plc, Equals Group plc, De La Rue plc, Sutton Harbour plc and Board Intelligence plc, after providing for ongoing operational costs as necessary. The Fund previously announced, based on the Investment Manager's assessment of the status and timing of anticipated corporate transactions, that it is targeting additional shareholder returns of at least £40 million or 50 pence per Share before 30 June 2022. The payment of the 10p a share dividend to Shareholders on 9 February 2022, representing a gross return of £8.3 million, was the first shareholder return towards achieving that target. Whilst the Fund is confident that this is achievable, after consulting with several Shareholders, it is no longer considered to be in the interests of the Fund to impose a fixed deadline but will be keeping it as a target.
Subject to Shareholder approval of the change of strategy, the Fund will not make any new investments and will only make further opportunistic investments in existing holdings where, in the view of the Board and Investment Manager, such investment is considered necessary to protect the interests of Shareholders and/or provide the Investment Manager with additional influence to maximise value and facilitate and accelerate an exit."
Based on their average share price (which is only a guess and could be above 10p and below 14p) then they would want at least that amount.
https://www.reddit.com/r/HurricaneEnergyHUR/
A Community for investors that have an interest in Hurricane Energy to share and gather information. To review news released on either side of share price movement. To be a resource for making informed investment decisions based on the available data.
“In case of dissension, never dare to judge till you've heard the other side.”
? Euripides, The Children of Herakles
Would Crystal Amber stand in the way of a bid for HUR if one arrived this year? What kind of sp figure do you think CRS would accept for their stake in HUR?
keep on cheering fatsammy - brent today $86.4
10p divi but value so dependent on hur = not sure about this.
"Saba Capital Management hired experienced counsel and proceeded to engage in 33 attacks on
funds from January 2016 through February 2020." P.41 onwards details the various approaches taken by Saba.
https://us.eversheds-sutherland.com/portalresource/20_ltr_cef.pdf
Corrected message: I've added here a couple of days before the variant drop showing a loss. I presume there is no longer a need to do a share buyback as Saba and shareholders who hold on until the end would bag the cash at the end of the period. If they do then trusts like CGT (Capital Gearing Trust) could see the value and start increasing their stake in CRS. CGT would have voted for the liquidation of holdings I am sure
I've added here a couple of days before the variant drop showing a loss. I presume there is no longer a need to do a share buyback as Saba and shareholders who hold on until the end would bag the cash at the end of the period. If they do then trusts like CGT (Capital Gearing Trust) could see the value and start increasing their stake in Saba. CGT would have voted for the liquidation of holdings I am sure.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/congress-closed-end-funds-legislation-51627657959
Yay! NAV 150p ish.....great news!
Two very useful links here for possible explanation as to the possible intentions of Saba, mostly in the lower part of the article.
https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1m3lx01dnj9mq/Boaz-Weinstein-Is-Making-Bank-He-s-Not-Happy-That-You-Know-About-It
https://www.trustnet.com/news/13281966/the-uk-trusts-on-the-biggest-discount-or-premiums-relative-to-their-history-
Agreed. Attractive enough to sit tight. Shame I first went into CRS at 172 so if we get 50p back I'll just recoup my initital investment but glad I average down so after all this I might actually be in some sort of profit