8 Jul 2020 07:00
The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
BASKERVILLE CAPITAL PLC
('Baskerville' or the 'Company')
Update on Proposed Acquisition
On 27 January 2020, Baskerville announced the acquisition of a 7.83% shareholding in Oberon Investments Limited ('Oberon') for £850,640, together with a second subscription of a further £350,945 ('Second Subscription'). Baskerville also entered into non-legally binding heads of agreement with Oberon to acquire the entire issued share capital of Oberon not already owned by it ('Proposed Acquisition').
Oberon is the holding company of MD Barnard & Co Limited (trading as Oberon Investments), an FCA regulated fund manager, see www.oberoninvestments.com. The investment has been made by Baskerville to assist Oberon in funding and accelerating its growth strategy.
The Second Subscription has now been made in Oberon. As a result of better than expected trading, the directors of Oberon requested that the amount of the Second Subscription be reduced. As such, a second subscription of £295,390 was made for a further 2.3% of the equity of Oberon.
Since the original investment in Oberon was made, assets under administration ('AUA') at Oberon have grown organically from £120m to just under £200m, despite the decline in markets triggered by the Covid pandemic. Further to this, on 26 June 2020, Oberon completed the acquisition of the UK retail wealth management business of Hanson Asset Management, adding an additional £100m of AUA, bringing Oberon's total AUA to over £300m. Alongside the acquisition, Oberon is pleased to welcome The Hon. Robert Hanson as Non-Executive Chairman. Robert brings considerable experience in financial markets, along with a strong contact base, which will help accelerate the Oberon's growth plans.
Oberon has additional acquisition targets in the pipeline, and we hope to be able to provide further updates shortly.
The Proposed Acquisition of Oberon is subject to legal, financial and other due diligence and entry into a legally binding agreement. As the Company has not yet entered into such an agreement, it cannot guarantee that the Proposed Acquisition will complete. However, following progress over the last few weeks, it is now expected the Proposed Acquisition will be completed before the end of Q3 2020.
On completion of the Proposed Acquisition, it is the Company's intention to seek admission to trading on the Aquis Exchange although the Company reserves the option to apply for admission to the Standard segment of the Main Market or to AIM.
Rodger Sargent, Chairman of Baskerville said: "We are delighted with the recent strong trading at Oberon. Due to the recent organic growth and improved cash flow, the Second Subscription was consequentially lower than initially expected.
"Oberon is an established boutique that is growing fast and already attracting talented wealth managers from larger competitors. They have created an attractive working environment for their teams and the focus on providing a first-class service for their client base is showing positive results.
"Through organic and acquisitive growth, Oberon's AUA have increased over 200% to £300m since its creation. The proposed reverse acquisition of Oberon by the Company will allow this growth to continue and help pursue the pipeline of acquisition targets that have been identified.
"We will continue to update with further corporate developments within Oberon and the Proposed Acquisition and re-listing, which we aim to complete before the end of Q3 2020."
For information please contact:
Baskerville Capital plc
Rodger Sargent
via Walbrook PR
Walbrook PR Ltd
Tel: 020 7933 8780 or baskerville@walbrookpr.com
Nick Rome
Tom Cooper