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From ADVFN website - not exactly a racing certainty- but this is the source of todays rise.

" GCP Infrastructure Rises as Betaville Cites Takeover Interest By Joe Easton

(Bloomberg) -- GCP Infrastructure Investments rises as much as 5.5% as the Betaville financial blog cites possible takeover interest in the closed-ended investment company.

“People following the situation have heard talk GCP Infrastructure Investments may have attracted takeover interest,” says Betaville

Identity of company circling is unclear: Betaville. To contact the reporter on this story:Joe Easton in London at jeaston7@bloomberg.net "

If the company knows about something that would cause this level of collapse I assume they would need to RNS. That said - I'm not sure the current management team have any interest in the market cap given they have no ownership. Major red flag. Amati started selling their 13m holding at 5pps - they now appear to be OK with 2pps. In selling their previously valued £650K holding in January for peanuts they have wiped out £6m in company value. There may have been an alternative conversation with other major shareholders rather than open market sells which could have helped to mitigate this - but that assumes there is institutional interest which does not appear forthcoming at present which at these distressed levels does make you wonder.....SB

8 years to get to this point - Baines, Fleming and McCullough all there at the start and now all leading the business forward. Confident they can deliver 2025 $$ numbers - so now its about fiscal 2026 which starts in less than 4 months - achieving that $8.5m sales target would be game changing here. If they can bring in the required physician groups it looks like they have a sales team under Howard Doran who can get test sales traction. I was impressed with Fleming - the technology they have developed, their global clinical partnerships and barriers to entry are huge. Muted reaction but still early in the turnaround story. SB

As discussed last week - something is fundamentally not right here. Could there be an acquisition/rights issue on the way? Volume isn’t big - but daily impact is horrific. Across at Renx it was a very upbeat RNS today. SB

Cannot see any circumstance where RENX will be merged with EKF. There is clearly significant history and common directors, shareholders - but each needs to succeed (or fail) on their own merits imo. SB

Great run up to results. Based on just about every company reporting today would be the day to sell.....and that's for good news results which I expect here. Such is the way of the market ATM. SB

Dividend will hit c.10pps in 6 years based on current inflation increases which company has confirmed is secure income from existing portfolio. They can maintain this for 20 years.....SB

I guess IR cant say much more than than that Blackfriars - as you say nothing there we didn't know - and yes you are correct the company has no debt - with a £250m facility available if required (which it wont). Part of the problem is linked to the investment adviser - Amber - who get paid a c.1% annual management fee ie £30m to manage the portfolio. They are not exactly going to be proactive in suggesting a managed realisation. At least you did OK out of BBGI Guitarsolo - not one of mine - I hold INPP, GCP and GABI at present. INPP exist to deliver yield return and capital growth - if that is no longer achievable then they need to consider the implications and plan another strategy/exit. SB

Current book value is £2.8bn blackfriars - 1.87bn shares at £1.50 NAV. Current market cap is £2bn - 1.87bn shares at £1.09. £800m difference - 41p a share. Almost 30% discount. I have previously commented that the NAV does not imo accurately reflect the carrying value of assets such as cadent, angel trains - so the book value could well be over £3bn which just increases the pressure on management to act. SB

We certainly did blackfriars. I think INPP have been reasonably proactive over the last 18 months with all the initiatives you mention. And yes the question has to be - where do they go next. Wait for a correction - jeez four years ago the shares were trading at £1.70 - a decent premium to NAV albeit in a very low inflation, zero interest rate environment. If gilts/bonds are not for moving - and the implied risk adjusted return here is a 7%+ yield - then there will be increasing pressure to look at some form of realisation from major shareholders. The main benefit of INPP is its long dated loan book combined with equity position business ownership - so they have time up their sleeve so to speak. Will be very interesting to see what's said end of month. SB

Wow. We are now within touching distance of the IPO price in 2006 - £1.00. 19 years of capital growth wiped out - accepting majority here are yield/dividend hunters. But still......£800m below asset value is quite stunning. I would say this is as good an entry point as I could have imagined here Guitarsolo - but the current market is exhibiting complete madness in the infra sector - and elsewhere too. For those of us invested at much higher prices - its a painful place to be - although I take some solace from the assets which underpin the valuation model - not that that seems to have any influence on the stampede away from holding positions here and elsewhere. SB

Cannot agree more unhooked - the market is in a mess at the moment. And yet FTSE nudging all time highs a couple of weeks ago. Automatic algorithm trading causing havoc imo. Very interesting to see what happens here prior to results/presentation - and what is said on the day. SB

It’s becoming rather apparent the market knows something that is not public knowledge here. SB

Believe it or not there is a fourth ekf related business kicking around - Trellus - looking at IBD and also linked to Mount Sinai technology, spun out of ekf in 2021 and has Baines fingerprints all over it. Can you guess how that is faring....! Its the only one I'm not a shareholder in. All four businesses have quite a tale to tell - and I've lived and breathed it for the last five years. As for Renx - the main driver is James McCullough - and as much as he has been heavily criticised for his lack of commercial focus, there is no doubt he achieved a huge amount in 4/5 years to get to this point. They have burnt a lot of cash - £175m to date - but have retained a core and supportive shareholder base who have always pumped in money when needed - although loads of dilution as the years went by. Its all about sales traction now - and one of the mistakes they are now seeking to rectify is to start at physician level. Loads of headline grabbing health system partnerships resulted in zero test sales. The systems were heavily bureaucratic, complex and would likely require years to make any headway. Focusing on prescribing doctors seems to be yielding results - so its all about scaling up now. The potential here is huge - and i don't think access to future funding will be an issue - IF they can hit their targets. We likely wont know until autumn if they hit 2025 revenue of $3.2m - but that would show decent quarterly growth. VRCI smaller - and agree who knows what Sara B is up to - but medicare approval should unlock value there - but again they need to sell their tests although they do seem to be developing the right relationships. EKF is just nut - generates and squanders cash with no real business growth strategy. Current market value is just bizarre for a company generating £11m ebitda and £15m+ cash in bank. I'm not sure we will see an 'ekf' series of spin off venture's like this again - just don't see how they could raise cash - AIM is done in that regard. ATB - 2025 is a big year here - now or never type stuff. SB

Had a listen to Phil Kent's interview last week. Nothing major that is not in public realm as you would expect. Couple of interesting snippets though. It looks like the supported living sale is getting close - with a preference to sell the portfolio to as few investors as possible. There may be a link with the wind down of the GABI business also managed by Gravis - who are selling one of their largest accommodation holdings (Old Oak Collective) to private equity firm Henderson Park. On the assumption they can sell the supported living portfolio - the average duration of remaining loans falls to 7 years (it is currently 11). GABI was 4 year average when shareholders voted to wind down. No mention of current buy back being on hold - but likely they need to sell assets prior to commencing again at scale. Net debt at 31st Dec £20m. SB

Lol oogle. Although I'm not so sure who the real loonies are....I'm thinking in particular about those invested here! Julian Baines has a busy reporting diary upcoming in his executive chairman role - Tuesday 18th for Renx; Tuesday 25th for ekf; and at some point they need to update market on what's going on at vrci where he is non-exec chairman. All three hardly inspiring much confidence ATM. Surely they can't all be lemons......SB

We already know the H1 revenue - $1.3m. What will be important is visible continued reduction in costs and sufficiency of cash balance into 2026. Alongside this - momentum needs new doctor groups and potential partnerships which create actual test sales. They will know roughly where we are in Q3 sales and may provide an update in relation to current trading. SB

3rd day in a row with no buybacks. Bit unusual given scale of recent activity. Possible 30m shares was the target. Or on hold for now. SB

No problem blackfriars. Most fund valuations are based on discounted cash flows which take into account inflation, yields, currency type adjustments - so not great at present. The assets you mention - cadent in particular, angel trains - have significant value which are not reflected in current NAV imo. If INPP wish to be proactive they would look to introduce an alternative asset valuation model which looks at actual market value - not just the cash flows coming from the asset. SB

Its all getting very messy blackfriars. Infrastructure was always classed as safe haven - reliable inflation linked government cash flows produced decent dividend steams (4/4.5%) in a low inflation environment which attracted investors with limited risk appetite who were not so focused on capital growth. Then 18 months of high inflation, gilts, yields has turned the sector on its head. Infra yields are now ranging 7-10% - reflecting a risk premium over gilts of anywhere between 3-5%. The knock on is that NAV valuation's have fallen proportionate to the yield curve. As you say - cash flooding into long term government debt = withdrawals from the entire sector. That in itself is unsustainable - government debt borrowing has to reduce or we all headed for major trouble with limited growth. Company's are reacting in various ways - fair play - but they are part of a much bigger economic picture and their actions are relatively limited. Even the larger funds with decent assets are struggling. Those with long dated assets have time. Short termers are in trouble - GABI shareholders voted to wind down given its loan book was averaging 4 years and there is no short term ambition to invest given sector returns. Just about every business is into buybacks in an effort to soak up selling, increase eps, reduce share capital, show a positive outlook before large shareholders look for more radical options - like the examples you noted. BBGI being taken out at NAV appears to reiterate that fundamentally there is value in infrastructure - but with no real mandate to invest in current climate and a steady decline to align risk adjusted returns - as is say...messy. I think INPP has a strong loan book, some solid undervalued assets and a team who are doing what they can - but at some point global players may look to move in if management cannot arrest the decline. That said - I'm holding and hoping the markets start to make more sense later this year. SB