27th Oct 2014 09:42
LONDON (Alliance News) - Haversham Holdings PLC and Mortgage Advice Bureau (Holdings) Ltd Monday added themselves to the AIM market initial public offering pipeline, on the day Green Dragon Gas Ltd moved to the London Stock Exchange's main market from AIM.
Haversham has been created by Avril Palmer-Baunack and Marwyn, the specialist investment management company, with the support of institutional investors including Invesco, Artemis, Aviva and Schroders.
Palmer-Baunack will be executive chairman of the company, which aims to acquire and develop "substantial" businesses in the UK and European automotive, support services, leasing, engineering or manufacturing sectors, targeting acquisitions with an enterprise value of between GBP250 million and GBP1 billion.
Palmer-Baunack is currently non-executive chairman of accident management company Redde PLC and tobacco machinery company Molins PLC, and was previously chief executive of Universal Salvage PLC, Autologic PLC and executive chairman of Stobart Group Ltd. She will drive the Haversham business alongside Marwyn's Managing Partners James Corsellis and Mark Brangstrup Watts, who will be Haversham directors.
"Haversham intends to acquire controlling stakes in quoted or unquoted businesses or companies, creating a platform for further acquisitions in sectors where the opportunity exists to create significant shareholder value through a well-executed consolidation strategy," it said in a statement.
In a separate statement, Marwyn Value Investors Ltd said the underlying fund in which it has invested, Marwyn Value Investors LP, has entered into a placing letter to subscribe for GBP8.96 million new shares in Haversham Holding. This represents approximately 4.8% of the net asset value of the Marwyn Value Investors' ordinary shares
Haversham is placing a total of GBP30million new shares to provide due diligence and operating capital prior to a subsequent acquisition, Marwyn said. It is expected to list on AIM November 10.
"Avril has a strong track record of delivering value and we are pleased to be backing her new venture alongside other leading institutions. We are looking forward to announcing further investments in high quality management teams and delivering significant capital value through our proven buy and build strategy," Marwyn Chairman Robert Ware said.
Mortgage Advice Bureau, meanwhile, said its IPO will involve the sale of existing shares by current shareholders, and it won't raise any new funds for the business. Its largest shareholder after the planned IPO will be Chief Executive Peter Brodnicki, while an unnamed former director and his spouse will sell their entire holding, and all the other existing shareholders will sell some of their holdings but retain more than 60% of their holdings.
The company said the IPO should increase its brand awareness and profile, give the long-standing senior management an opportunity to realise part of their investment, and allow the company to reward employees through share ownership. It will also give it a more flexible capital structure, allowing it to raise new funds for growth by issuing equity.
Mortgage Advice Bureau is a network for mortgage intermediaries with over 110 appointed representatives and over 600 advisers. Many of the appointed reps work through a franchise model. It specialises in providing mortgage advice to customers, as well as advice on protection and general insurance products.
"The UK mortgage market provides those seeking a mortgage with a choice of over 70 lenders and many thousands of mortgage products. The majority of borrowers use an intermediary and, following the Mortgage Market Review which introduced the requirement for advice on residential mortgages, the number of borrowers seeking advice from intermediaries is increasing," co-founder Brodnicki said.
"MAB's position in a fragmented market is a very favourable one, and we expect organic growth to continue and to attract more high quality and strongly performing intermediary firms into our network and franchise propositions," he added.
The company made an adjusted pretax profit of GBP3.4 million in the first six months of 2014, on revenue of GBP24.5 million. It said the profit has grown more than 40% each year between 2009 and 2013.
It said its dividend policy starting on January 1, 2015 is to pay at least 60% of annual profits available for distribution on a half yearly basis.
Green Dragon Gas Ltd Monday started trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market, having moved from AIM. It didn't raise any new funds in the move. It had announced the move last month, saying the main market was the "most appropriate platform for the continued growth of the group by increasing Green Dragon's profile, assisting in the liquidity of the company's shares and providing a greater range of potential investors for the company".
Green Dragon shares were trading down 3.8% at 519.42 pence Monday morning.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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