29th Oct 2014 08:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - Private equity fund JZ Capital Partners, which invests in US and European micro cap companies, is entering the second half of the year with a "healthy" pipeline of investment opportunities, according to founder and investment adviser David Zalaznick.
Zalaznick Wednesday said the private equity fund expects the pipeline to contribute to "positive net asset value development" in the future.
JZ Capital Partners said its net asset value per share increased to USD10.27 per share at the end of August before the payment of dividends, from USD10.25 at the end of February. After dividends paid, net asset value per share fell to USD10.11. It distributed 16 cents per share, paid in June 2014.
The private equity fund reported USD96.3 million of proceeds, primarily from realisations of Safety Insurance, Amptek, and Galson Laboratories. It invested USD128.6 million across US micro cap, European micro cap, real estate portfolios and Bright Spruce, its new asset management fund.
JZ also raised USD65.7 million by issuing convertible unsecured loan stock in order to give its capital structure more flexibility, provide greater liquidity, and bolster capital for further investments.
At the end of the first half the portfolio consisted of 65 investments across 10 industries, JZ said.
Chairman David Macfarlane said he has been encouraged by the pickup in pace of investments and realisations during the period, which he expects will continue to feed through to net asset value growth in the year ahead.
"The board continues to be mindful of the significant discount to NAV at which the company is trading. We do not consider the share buyback facility as a short term measure to narrow the discount, but instead believe that the company's continued effort with transparent market communication combined with strong performance of the underlying portfolio will address this issue," Macfarlane said in a statement.
"The company remains in a robust financial position, and continues to position itself to take advantage of opportunities to acquire high quality companies at reasonable prices in both the US and Europe. As a result, I am confident we can deliver value over the medium term to the benefit of clients and shareholders and remain confident in the future prospects of the company," Macfarlane added.
JZ increased its interim dividend to 15 cents per share from 14.5 cents.
JZ shares were Wednesday down 1.1% at 416.10 pence.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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