16 Aug 2012 13:33
City of London Group plc ("COLG" or "the Company")
COLG announces proposed sale of shares in FX Capital Group Limited
City of London Group plc today announces that it has reached an agreement to sell its investment in FX Capital Group Ltd ("The Currency Cloud") for £1,175,000 in cash. Completion is subject to the finalisation of the necessary documentation and shareholder consent from the remainder of FX capital group's shareholders. The sale proceeds will represent 2.5 times the original cost of the investment of £442000, which was one of COLG's early stage investments into the new currency trading platform. COLG reclassified its holding in FX Capital Group Limited into "available for sale" investments in the balance sheet at 31 March 2012 and this transaction represents full value achieved.
Eric Anstee, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"The disposal, when completed, of FX Capital Group at over 2.5 times our original cost is the proof that significant value creation can arise from early stage investments in financial services."
16 August 2012
Enquiries:
City of London Group plc
| +44 (0)20 7628 5518 |
Eric Anstee / John Kent
| |
Singer Capital Markets
| +44(0)203 205 7500 |
Jonny Franklin-Adams / Matt Thomas | |
College Hill
| +44 (0)20 7457 2020 |
Tony Friend / Antonia Coad | |
Notes to Editors
FX Capital Ltd
FX Capital provides on-line foreign exchange products and services aimed at corporates. COLG acquired its investment in FX Capital in March 2009 when the business was at an early stage of development.
City of London Group plc
COLG is an investment company, with a wide range of national and international investments. A public company since 1986, COLG has had a full London Stock Exchange listing since August 1996 (LSE symbol CIN).
The Company's strategy is to build a quality Financial Services Group centred on Specialist Financing and Alternative Fund Management. The Company believes there are particular opportunities in the SME and professional services sectors as major national and foreign banks limit new lending to these borrowers. It therefore seeks to identify and exploit product niches and business models in these sectors where they are supported by strong day to day management teams, providing initial equity, working capital and seed funding for those teams.
Since the final quarter of 2009, COLG has developed four specialist financing funds, pledging significant seed funds to Therium Capital Management Limited, a third party Litigation Funder, Credit Asset Management Limited and Professions Funding Limited, which provides asset backed finance and working capital loans to professional practice firms and finally Trade Finance Partners Limited, a trade finance provider to the SME market.
To find out more about COLG's strategy and its businesses please click on the attached link www.cityoflondongroup.com/about.asp