22nd Sep 2014 10:57
LONDON (Alliance News) - EPE Special Opportunities PLC Monday said it is mulling over a possible raising of funds through senior debt, mezzanine finance or bonds.
Chairman Geoffrey Vero said the board is working with investment advisor EPIC Private Equity LLP to investigate the possibility of raising the additional funds.
"Should the company decide to raise funds by way of debt or debt-like instruments, it would anticipate that those instruments and any existing convertible loan notes in aggregate would be more than 3.0x covered by the gross assets of the company. Any new funds raised would be used, inter alia, to retire existing convertible loan notes in light of the December 2015 end date (extendable to December 2016 at the company's behest), buy-in minorities in the existing investments, and support new investments," Vero said in a statement.
The news came as the company reported an increase in its net asset value to 135.44 pence per share from 135.37 pence over the six months ended July 31, the first half of its financial year.
Vero said the first-half of the financial year proved encouraging for the company's portfolio, highlighting its largest investment, Nexus Industries.
"Over the course of 2014, Nexus once more traded ahead of budget and is continuing to increase sales and margins, notably buoyed by accelerating sales of its new LED lighting range. Nexus... expects to finish the financial year ahead of budget, a performance which could be further supplemented by its bolt-on acquisition strategy," Vero said.
Vero also noted a challenging first-half for Whittard of Chelsea.
"The board is satisfied with the overall performance of the portfolio and the progress of the company in the last six months, most notably at Nexus. We are optimistic that the company's portfolio will continue to perform and that the company will continue to explore opportunities to acquire high quality assets at attractive prices to further diversify the current portfolio," Vero said.
EPE shares were Monday quoted down 1.7% at 114.00 pence per share.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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