Change in management arrangements

Baronsmead Second Venture Trust plc (the "Company")

Change in management arrangements

Livingbridge VC LLP ("Livingbridge") has today announced the sale of its fund and investment management business, including its Baronsmead VCT business, to a subsidiary of Gresham House plc ("Gresham House"), a specialist alternative asset manager listed on the London Stock Exchange. The core management, investment and operational teams involved with the Company will all be transferred to Gresham House in connection with this transaction.

A wide ranging and multi-year partnership agreement has been put in place between Livingbridge and Gresham House to enable a smooth transition of the management of the VCTs and also ongoing support between the parties to ensure minimal disruption for the Company and its Shareholders

The Company has consented to the novation of the existing investment management and co-investment agreements to Gresham House, which is expected to become effective around 30 November 2018. No changes are being made to the terms of the investment management and co-investment agreements.

The Board believes that this transaction is encouraging as it will provide additional resources for the team and enable them to focus on maintaining and developing the VCT business going forward. We understand that Gresham House intends to grow its non VCT private equity funds in the future and we see this as being complementary and supportive to the investment capability for the VCTs. The Board will continue to keep the performance of the management team under review and will update the shareholders on the new arrangements at the next Annual General Meeting.

Anthony Townsend, Chairman of the Company, is also Non-Executive Chairman of Gresham House. Accordingly, he will be stepping down as Chairman of the Company, but will remain as a non-executive director, following completion of the sale.

The Chairman of Baronsmead Venture Trust and the Senior Independent Director of Baronsmead Second Venture Trust said:

"The Baronsmead VCTs were some of the very first VCTs to be established and have built a strong reputation for quality and consistent performance. In Gresham House we have a manager that recognises the important heritage of the Baronsmead VCTs and that is committed to helping to deliver consistent performance over the long term for shareholders.

We are delighted that the existing team are all moving over to Gresham House and we believe through this transaction they will be able to focus their efforts on deploying capital and managing investments, benefit from additional investment in both team and resources, and continue to deliver returns to Shareholders."

Wol Kolade, Managing Partner at Livingbridge said:

"We are immensely proud of all that the Baronsmead team has achieved but as our core PE business is the central focus of our future growth plans, we have taken this decision because we know Gresham House will be an outstanding guardian of the Baronsmead VCTs and will invest in their growth for the benefit of shareholders for many years to come. 

"We would not be taking this step if we hadn't found Gresham House to be a high-quality and ambitious group, focused on performance and governance in the same way we are, and I look forward to working with Anthony Dalwood and his team to deliver a smooth transition and build a longer-term relationship."

For further information, please contact:

Baronsmead VCT Investor Relations

Telephone - 020 7506 5717

baronsmeadvcts@livingbridge.com

Douglas Armstrong

Dickson Minto W.S. (Adviser to the Boards)

Telephone - 020 7649 6823

Notes

Gresham House is a specialist alternative asset manager providing funds, direct investments and tailored investment solutions, including co-investment across a range of highly differentiated alternative investment strategies. The Group's expertise includes strategic public and private equity, timber, renewable energy, housing and infrastructure. 

Legal Entity Identifier: 213800VQ1PQHOJXDDQ88

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.