18 Aug 2010 07:00
Aberdeen Private Equity Fund Limited (formerly known as Bramdean Alternatives Limited)
Unaudited Interim Management Statement - 3 months to 30 June 2010
To the shareholders of Aberdeen Private Equity Fund Limited
This interim management statement has been produced solely to provide additional information to shareholders as a body to meet the relevant requirements of the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. It should not be relied upon by any other party or for any other purpose.
This interim management statement relates to the period from 1 April 2010 to 30 June 2010, and contains information that covers this period, and up to the date of publication of this interim management statement, unless otherwise specified.
Overview and Investment Objective
Aberdeen Private Equity Fund Limited ("the Company") is a Guernsey closed-ended investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange. The Company's objective is to generate long term capital gains through investment in a diversified portfolio of Private Equity Funds.
Material events
On 3 June 2010 the Board of the Company announced that at the class meeting of the US Dollar shareholders and extraordinary general meeting, both held on 3 June 2010, all resolutions were duly passed.
(a) The change of name of the Company to Aberdeen Private Equity Fund Limited (APEF.L) was approved by shareholders but still needs to be registered with the Registrar of Companies in Guernsey;
(b) The investment objective and policy of the Company was changed as described in the circular dated 10 May 2010;
(c) Conversion of all US Dollar shares into Sterling shares, thereby simplifying the Company's capital structure was approved; and,
(d) The waiver, granted by the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, of the obligation that would otherwise arise on Elsina Limited (the Company's largest shareholder) to make a general offer to shareholders pursuant to Rule 9 of the City Code as a result of the share conversion proposal in (c) or in consequence of the Company repurchasing its own shares, was approved.
On 7 June 2010 the Company confirmed that the change of name had been registered with the Registrar of Companies in Guernsey and had become effective from that date.
On 25 June 2010, the Company confirmed that the conversion of US Dollar shares into Sterling shares would occur on 2 July 2010 and would be implemented on the basis of a conversion ratio (calculated in accordance with the Company's Articles of Incorporation) of 0.5810 Sterling Shares for every one US Dollar Share (the "Conversion Ratio"). The Conversion Ratio was calculated using the Net Asset Values of the Company's Sterling shares as at 28 May 2010. In addition, a spot currency foreign exchange rate as at 28 May 2010 of USD/GBP 1.4458 was used. Dealings in the 45,540,957 new Shares arising following the conversion commenced on 2 July 2010 and with effect from that date there were 136,366,736 Sterling shares in issue.
On 22 July 2010 the Company released its Annual financial Report announcement.
On 29 July 2010 the Company announced that it had purchased for cancellation 2,000,000 Sterling shares of no par value at a price per share of 51.5 pence.
On 3 August 2010 the Company announced that it had purchased for cancellation 275,000 Sterling shares of no par value at a price per share of 54 pence.
Following the above cancellations the total number of Sterling shares in issue is 134,091,736. Accordingly, the total number of voting rights in the Company is now 134,091,736 and this figure may be used by shareholders as a denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in the Company under the FSA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. The Company holds no shares in Treasury.
General description of Company's financial position as at 30 June 2010
| Sterling shares NAV | 89.17 pence |
| US Dollar shares NAV* | US$ 0.7751 |
| Market Capitalisation | £71.7 million |
* The entire issued share capital of US Dollar shares was converted into Sterling shares on 2 July 2010
As described in the Company's prospectus, and as has been the case since its launch, the net asset value ("NAV") and the NAV per share are both calculated monthly by the Company's administrator based on the latest published NAV for each underlying fund.
With only one exception, investments in underlying funds for the month ended 30 June 2010 are valued using the values (whether final or estimated) as advised by their managers, general partners or administrators. The Company therefore relied on valuation and reporting methods used by the managers, general partners or administrators of the underlying funds in deriving the 30 June 2010 NAV and NAV per share. That exception was Aarkad and was valued at a level recommended by the Company's Investment Manager (see investment commentary, below).
Investment Commentary
The Company remains committed to 16 Private Equity funds, with commitments totalling US$208 million. No new commitments were made during the quarter. The total drawn down on commitments made is approximately US$122.7m, with 17 capital calls having been made in the quarter, totalling US$6.2 million. The Company has received total distributions of US$7.6 million since inception, with US$2 million received during the quarter. Revaluations were received from all of the managers during the quarter, 10 were upwards revaluations (note Greenpark was an upwards revaluation in Euros but a downwards revaluation in US Dollar terms) and 7 were downwards revaluations.
The portfolio holds two specialty funds, one of which, Aarkad, remains suspended. Following a substantial analysis of this holding we have written its valuation down by 75%. This is based on ongoing sales of underlying 'called up' assets realising considerably lower proceeds than might have been expected when referenced to the original loan value on those underlying assets. Please note that Aarkad has been reclassified by Aberdeen, from a Transitional Fund, to a Specialty Fund.
The Strategic Hedge Funds portfolio was down for the quarter. Our multi-strategy manager, Deephaven, registered a substantial loss based on a potential tax liability that could arise from historical trades in Spain and Australia. The markdown was initially conservative and the valuation has been subsequently reduced.
The portfolio's commitment cover which includes cash and the strategic hedge funds was 90.8% at 30 June 2010.
Portfolio Highlights
Geographical Allocation
| North America 57.2% |
| Europe 5.5% |
| Global 33.1% |
| Asia & Other 4.2% |
Portfolio Holdings Asset Allocation
| Cash 44.6% |
| Private Equity & Private Equity Like Funds 52.6% |
| Specialty Funds 2.4% |
| Strategic Hedge Funds 0.4% |
Portfolio Holdings (Invested Capital) on 30 June 2010
| Manager | Type | Portfolio Weighting |
|
|
|
|
| Cash | Cash | 44.63% |
| Oaktree OCM Opportunities Fund VIIb LP | Distressed | 10.41% |
| Greenpark International Investors III LP | Secondaries | 5.93% |
| Coller International Partners V LP | Secondaries | 3.87% |
| Thomas H Lee Parallel Fund VI LP | Buyout | 3.79% |
| MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners III LP | Distressed | 3.36% |
| Silver Lake Partners III LP | Buyout | 3.31% |
| DFJ Athena LP | Venture Capital | 3.20% |
| HIG Bayside Debt & LBO Fund II LP | Distressed | 3.08% |
| SVG Strategic Recovery Fund II LP | Activist Small Cap | 3.03% |
| Tenaya Capital V LP | Venture Capital | 2.48% |
| Goldman Sachs Capital Partners VI LP | Mega Buyout | 2.42% |
| Terra Firma Capital Partners III LP | Buyout | 1.84% |
| Thoma Bravo Fund IX LP | Growth Capital | 1.82% |
| Pine Brook Capital Partners LP | Growth Capital | 1.77% |
| Resonant Music LP | Specialty | 1.66% |
| Rho Ventures VI LP | Venture Capital | 1.31% |
| PineBridge Latin America Partners II LP (formerly AIG Brazil Special Situations II LP) | Growth Capital | 0.95% |
| Aarkad Plc | Specialty | 0.76% |
| Deephaven Global Multi-Strategy Fund Ltd | Strategic Hedge Funds | 0.36% |
| King Street Capital Ltd | Strategic Hedge Funds | 0.03% |
Cash: The Company currently invests its cash with counterparties that appear on Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited's approved lending list.
Strategic Hedge Funds: The part of the Company's portfolio formerly managed by Man Investments (CH) AG).
Key Facts
| Market Capitalisation | £71.7 million |
| Investment Manager | Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited |
| Annual Management Fee | 1.5% |
| Performance fee | 10% subject to an 8% return and a high watermark |
| Company Brokers | Matrix Corporate Capital LLP JPMorgan Cazenove |
| Sterling class share price on 30 June 2010 | 51.25 pence |
| Number of Sterling shares in issue | 90.825 million |
| US Dollar class share price on 30 June 2010* | US$ 0.48 |
| Number of US Dollar shares in issue* | 78.384 million |
| NAV publication | Monthly |
| June Sterling Estimated NAV per share | 89.17 pence |
| June US Dollar Estimated NAV per share* | US$ 0.7751 |
| Total June Estimated Net Asset Value | US$ 181,911,109.80 |
| Half-year end | 30 September |
| Financial year end | 31 March |
| Company Secretary and Administrator | RBC Offshore Fund Managers Limited |
| Registrar | Capita Registrars (Guernsey) Limited |
| Stock Exchange code (Sterling shares) | APEF LN |
| Sedol code (Sterling shares) | B1XCHB9 |
| ISIN code (Sterling shares) | GG00B1XCHB94 |
* The entire issued share capital of US Dollar shares was converted into Sterling shares on 2 July 2010
Cumulative performance (%) (GBP)
|
| as at | 1 month | 3 months | 6 months | 1 year |
|
| 30/06/2010 |
|
|
|
|
| Share Price | 51.3 | -6.4 | -5.1 | -1.4 | 0.0 |
| NAV | 89.2 | -3.9 | -0.4 | 8.3 | 12.5 |
Cumulative performance (%) (USD)*
|
| as at | 1 month | 3 months | 6 months | 1 year |
|
| 30/06/2010 |
|
|
|
|
| Share Price | 0.5 | -4.0 | -4.0 | -9.4 | -20.0 |
| NAV | 0.8 | -0.6 | -1.8 | 0.3 | 2.2 |
* The entire issued share capital of US Dollar shares was converted into Sterling shares on 2 July 2010
Discrete performance (%) (GBP)
|
| 30/06/2010 | 30/06/2009 |
| Share Price | 0.0 | -40.2 |
| NAV | 12.5 | -21.6 |
Discrete performance (%) (USD)*
|
| 30/06/2010 | 30/06/2009 |
| Share Price | -20.0 | -41.2 |
| NAV | 2.2 | -24.2 |
* The entire issued share capital of US Dollar shares was converted into Sterling shares on 2 July 2010
Total Return; NAV to NAV, Net Income Reinvested, GBP
Source: Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited and Morningstar
The Board is not aware of any significant events or transactions which have occurred between 1 July 2010 and the date of publication of this interim management statement which would have a material impact on the financial position of the Company. For latest performance information, please refer to the Company's website, www.aberdeenprivateequity.co.uk.
Please note that past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future and that the value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Investors may not get back the amount they originally invested.
For Aberdeen Private Equity Fund Limited
RBC Offshore Fund Managers LimitedSecretary
18 August 2010