Intermediate Capital lending again

Mezzanine finance provider Intermediate Capital has seen a 'material' improvement in prospects for realising its investments with the recent pick-up in equity and bond markets. In mid-January, 52% of its portfolio companies continued to perform at or above last year's level, a figure broadly in line with the previous two quarters. In the three months to December, Intermediate Capital realised two investments, Marken Group Limited and Springer. The Marken sale completed in January and generated proceeds of £168m, including a capital gain of £71 million, the largest in ICG's 21 year history. The sale of Springer is expected to generate proceeds of approximately £40m in mid-February. The group also recently sold our mezzanine investment in Gala Coral at a price exceeding the net carrying value. "This will generate £36m of proceeds in the fourth quarter and a small write-back," it said.There are signs of momentum in mid market leveraged buyouts in both Asia and North America but Europe remains more subdued."Going forward, we continue to expect to deploy between £150m and £200m per annum. We expect to complete our first material transactions since the summer of 2008 shortly," the statement said. Investing cautiouslyGoing forward, we continue to expect to deploy between £150 million and £200 million per annum. We expect to complete our first material transactions since the summer of 2008 shortly. Meanwhile, we have made some modest follow on investments in support of our portfolio.