2nd Mar 2010 11:16
Q4 2009 Newsletter
This is the Newsletter of the Investment Adviser to the Ludgate Environmental Fund Ltd ("LEF" or "Fund"), covering the three month period from 1 October to 31 December 2009. It provides highlights of the fund's performance and a view on current market conditions, progress made by investee companies and current deal flow.
Key highlights for the final quarter of 2009:
·; £3.8m of new investment across four companies
·; €3.0m invested into electronic waste recycling company, Terra Nova
·; £0.9m of dividend and interest income received from investee companies
·; Dividend of 1.5p per share declared and paid to LEF Shareholders
In the three months to 31 December 2009, the NAV per share decreased from 107.1p on 30 September 2009 to 103.9p, representing a decrease in NAV per share of 3.0% over the period. This decrease in NAV resulted principally from a write down in the value of EWT, as announced on 16 December 2009.
Despite the lack of global consensus following the recent Copenhagen talks in December 2009, we see the long term drivers in the cleantech sector, over and above climate change, as remaining strong. Natural resource depletion and constraints, tightening environmental regulation and concerns over energy security are amongst a growing number of factors creating strong investment opportunities. However, with the continuing fragile nature of financing markets, affecting in particular access to debt funding, and with the economics of certain sub-sectors remaining heavily reliant on incentives, investment choice, structuring of investment terms and active management of portfolio companies are more critical than ever.
We expect the pipeline of potential investment opportunities seen and reviewed by the Investment Team to increase as the cleantech sector continues to mature and additional development capital is sought from companies looking to facilitate further expansion and roll-out.
We also see the IPO market slowly returning for those companies looking to raise growth capital on sensible valuations and where they can demonstrate strong business models. This could potentially open up IPO opportunities for one or two companies within the existing Fund portfolio in the 2010/ 2011 timeframe to fund expansion plans.
Key Fund Performance Data
The Market
One result of the stalemate at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 is an emerging consensus that the green agenda is a worldwide problem that is more extensive than just carbon/climate change and includes resource efficiency, waste and recycling and sustainability more broadly. If nothing else, that is a major step forward.
This broadened thinking on environmental issues is being reflected in a diversification of cleantech investment from a dominant solar sector into a wider number of sectors including energy efficiency, smart grid and waste and recycling. In solar, the number of deals completed globally in 2009 fell to 86, from 110 in 2008, with investment volume falling 64% to US$1.2b. Solar, however, remains the largest single cleantech sector with strong fundamentals - Solarbuzz forecasts the global solar PV market to more than double between 2008 and 2013. Whilst LEF has not yet invested in solar, with the solar development cycle at its nadir, we believe opportunities will emerge and that the valuation of developers in the solar space is looking attractive.
Energy efficiency had a record year in 2009, accounting for 18% of global cleantech investment, representing an increase of around 40% year on year. Energy efficiency companies raised over US$1.0b through 120 deals as against US$192m from 28 deals in 2005. We have been actively seeking opportunities in energy efficiency in the wider sense, including green buildings, industrial processes and energy storage.
Finally, waste and recycling, which has been a small portion of cleantech investment representing less than 3% of investments, continues to gain in popularity and to offer LEF interesting opportunities. Terra Nova, LEF's latest investment, is targeting the electronic waste recycling sub-sector, a growing market reflecting the EU Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment ("WEEE") which banned the export of electronic waste from Europe. This problem was highlighted by the recent precedent-setting prosecution of Sita by the UK Environment Agency for the export of waste electronics.
Overall, global cleantech venture investment in 2009 totalled US$5.7b, the third largest year on record, representing a 33% decline on 2008 but only 6% less than 2007. Despite this decline, cleantech has outperformed the wider venture capital market resulting in cleantech securing an overall 19% share of global venture capital investment and becoming the largest venture capital segment. Whilst cleantech investment was down, the global number of venture capital transactions in 2009 increased to 579, from 569 in 2008, with a resultant reduction in the average transaction size.
On a quarterly basis, the global investment in Q4, at just below US$1.5b, was slightly lower than the US $1.6b invested in Q3. In Europe, $508m was invested in 52 deals in Q4, marginally below the $526m invested in 61 deals in Q3, reflecting some underlying strength in the European cleantech market despite the challenging global economic environment. Going forward, the Cleantech Group forecasts a recovery in investment with 2010 cleantech investments likely to exceed 2009 and a record year in new cleantech fund raisings. The market will be sustained by the underlying green agenda fundamental drivers and by government stimulus funds, which will be increasingly influential as they are dispensed through 2010 and 2011.
The cleantech sector is also playing a larger role in the M&A and IPO market. In Europe, the number of cleantech deals exceeded that of North America, with notable deals including Solel, the solar thermal power company sold to Siemens, and Optisolar's sale of its European solar projects. The IPO market has begun to recover, with 32 IPO's in 2009, though most of the transactions have been in N America and Asia, with Europe only recording 5 IPO's raising 2% of global proceeds of $4.3b. We are beginning to see an increasing number of cleantech companies filing for IPO's in 2010, such as Tesla, the electric car company, and Engyco, the European solar project consolidator.
Overall, we view the future of European cleantech positively and continue to concentrate LEF investments towards specific segments within cleantech which address the long term drivers, including natural resource depletion and constraints, tightening environmental regulation and concerns over energy security.
Investment Portfolio
As at 31 December 2009:
·; LEF had completed combined investments totalling £30.0m across ten companies, (62.6% of total net assets).
·; £15.0m (50.0%) of investments made by the Fund are structured as convertible loan notes, preferred stock or as working capital facilities, each generating income to LEF of between 8% and 10% per annum.
·; £15.0m (50.0%) of investments made by the Fund are structured to provide a 1.5x liquidation preference or minimum return.
·; Income generated from the investments during the three months ended 31 December 2009 totalled £0.4m, and dividends received from STX Services during the same period totalled £0.5m.
The following table presents the Investment Portfolio as at 31 December 2009 based on historical costs (using the exchange rate at the point of investment):
Notes to table:
(a) In the form of (i) €3m Series E 8% Preference Shares and (ii) €4.3m Series F 10% Preference Shares.
(b) Includes committed £1m working capital facility. As at 31 December 2009, £0.5m had been drawn down.
(c) In the form of (i) €2.0m 8% Preference A Shares, (ii) €1.0m 8% Preference B Shares, (iii) €251,847 Preference C Shares, and (iv) €250,000 Preference D Shares. Under IFRS, it is required to state the cost of investment at its fair value following conversion of the original loan note to Preference Shares; this increases the cost of investment to £4.5m per the interims as at 31 December 2009 rather than the £2.7m stated in the above table.
agri.capital GmbH
Biogas Developer, Owner and Operator
Valuation at 31 December 2009 (method): £7.0m (minimum guaranteed return and at cost)
Investment: €3.0m (£2.5m) (8% Preference E Shares with Detachable Warrants) and €4.3m (£3.9m) (10% Preference F Shares with Detachable Warrants)
LEF Ownership:undetermined
Date(s) of Investment:Q4 2008, Q2/Q3/Q4 2009
Company Summary:
agri.capital is a specialist developer, owner and operator of biogas plants, established in 2004. The business uses manure and crop silage to produce biogas. This methane-rich gas mixture is either burned onsite to create electricity and heat, or is cleaned and fed into the existing natural gas network. The fermentation residue is used as a high-quality fertilizer, returning nutrients to the soil. agri.capital uses proven technology from leading German EPC contractors and can rapidly roll-out fixed-price plants. The Company has secured feedstock contracts to match the off-take tariffs resulting in stable plant revenues.
Investment During The Period:
An additional investment of €0.7m into agri.capital in October 2009, brought the total invested by LEF in the Series F funding round (10% yielding preferred equity with detachable warrants) in 2009 to €4.3m. LEF's total investment into agri.capital to date is €7.3m.
Recent Highlights Include:
§ agri.capital is the largest operator of biogas facilities in Europe with 59 plants in operation and management across 48 sites with an installed capacity of approximately 36 MW.
§ Expects to have c. 100 MW operational by the end of 2010. Current pipeline includes acquisitions under review totaling c. 109 MW of capacity.
§ September 2009 - Appointed Dr. Anton Daubner as CEO, bringing his experience as CEO of several companies, including WestfaliaSurge, the world's second largest company for dairy farm equipment.
§ Q4 2009 - Completed construction of 4 plants with 3.5 MW of capacity and had an additional 5 plants (5.8 MW of capacity) under construction. Sites are primarily located in the rural areas of northern and eastern Germany.
§ Q4 2009 - Commissioned its third biomethane injection plant at Schmargendorf utilizing Malmberg's gas cleaning technology.
§ Q4 2009 - Utilization of operating facilities remained high, at around 92% capacity.
LEF has an observer seat on the Board of agri.capital. Nick Pople and Bill Weil, of the Investment Adviser, are alternates as the LEF observer.
Hydrodec Group PLC (AIM:HYR)
Specialist Oils Recycling
Valuation at 31 December 2009 (method): £5.0m (quoted share price and Black Scholes)
Amounts Invested:£3.5m (Ordinary Shares), £3.0m (8% Convertible Loan)
LEF Ownership:c. 9.0% (assuming full conversion of the Convertible Loan)
Date(s) of Investment:Q4 2007, Q1/Q2/Q4 2008, Q1/Q2 2009
Company Summary:
Hydrodec's technology is a patented sustainable oil refining process that takes existing spent oil as feedstock to produce new specialty oils thus creating a virtuous "green" cycle. The process is closed loop and produces no harmful emissions. Hydrodec's first commercial process re-refines the used transformer oils that insulate and cool utility transformer boxes. It currently has commercially operating plants in New South Wales in Australia and Ohio in the US, the largest market for transformer oil in the world.
Investment During The Period:
No further investments were made during the period.
Recent Highlights Include:
§ September 2009 - Interim Results: US plant now achieving consistent production levels of c. 60,000 litres per day (c. 75% capacity) and generating positive net cash flow. Progress made on the Japanese joint venture, a significant growth driver for the future with completion of the first site in Japan anticipated by 2012.
§ December 2009 - Announced agreement with one of its largest existing customers for the supply of 11.4 million litres of SUPERfine from Canton during 2010.
§ December 2009 - Announced that the Finance Director, John Dickson had resigned from the company. The Board is yet to appoint a replacement, but in the interim, Hydrodec has appointed a group financial controller.
§ December 2009 - Announced that it raised £2.1m before expenses at 12p per share.
§ January 2010 - Announced that the technical committee of the Waste Management Foundation, on behalf of the Japanese Environment Ministry, granted national approval for the use of Hydrodec's technology in Japan for the treatment of PCB contaminated transformer oils.
§ January 2010 - Announced record quarterly SUPERfine sales for Q4 2009 of 4.4m litres (Q3 2009 3.7m litres) with plants operating well and margins improving gradually during the quarter. The Board is confident that sales volumes will increase from the contracted off-take amount of c.19m litres for 2010.
LEF and the remainder of the Convertible Loan note holders have the right to appoint a non-executive director to the Board of Hydrodec. The Convertible Loan note holders have not taken this right up yet.
New Earth Solutions Group Limited
Waste Treatment and Renewable Energy
Valuation at 31 December 2009 (method): £5.0m (at cost)
Investment: £3.0m (Preferred Ordinary Shares) and £2.0m (10% Convertible Note)
LEF Ownership:undetermined
Date(s) of Investment:Q3 2009
Company Summary:
New Earth Solutions Group Limited("NESG") is a UK business comprising the waste treatment company, New Earth Solutions Ltd and the renewable energy company New Earth Energy Ltd. New Earth Solutions helps local authorities to meet their obligations to divert waste under the EU Landfill Directive and contributes to composting and recycling rates. It has existing and planned operations in the south and central England and contracts to receive waste from several local authorities. It has pioneered enclosed composting and biological treatment in the UK. New Earth Energy is developing and delivering innovative third party advanced thermal technologies to support the use of waste-derived feedstock for renewable power plants and combined heat and power schemes for public and private customers.
Investment During The Period:
No further investments were made during the period.
Recent Highlights Include:
§ September 2009 - LEF invested £5m into NESG, as part of a first close of its £15m equity fundraising announced in August 2009.
§ November 2009 - Achieved financial close on two projects with £20m of investment, including circa £13.5m of senior debt provided by Norddeutsche Landesbank (NORD/LB).
§ November 2009 - Bristol City Council granted planning permission for a 200,000 tonnes per annum Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) facility in Avonmouth for a major new contract with the four local authorities of the West of England Partnership. NESG also completed an agreement for purchase of a site in Avonmouth from St. Modwen.
§ December 2009 - Received a £4m investment from Carbon Trust Investments, as a second close on its £15m equity fundraising.
§ December 2009 - Recently made a series of senior appointments, further strengthening their existing management team, with new Contracts, Finance and Construction Directors.
LEF has the right to appoint a director to the Board of NESG. Nick Pople and Bill Weil, of the Investment Adviser, are acting as observers on the NESG Board.
Rapid Action Packaging Limited
Food Packaging Solutions
Valuation at 31 December 2009 (method): £5.0m (at cost)
Investment: £1.5m (Ordinary Shares), £2.5m (8% Convertible Notes) and £1.0 (Committed Working Capital Facility with £0.5m drawn down to date)
LEF Ownership:30.3% (assuming full conversion of Convertible Notes and issued Warrants)
Date(s) of Investment:Q2 2008, Q2 2009
Company Summary:
Rapid Action Packaging Ltd ("RAP") specialises in the design, manufacture and supply of innovative, ergonomic, cost effective and environmentally responsible packaging systems particularly for the "food on the move" marketplace. RAP's unique packaging solutions combine the benefits of both paper and film technologies to improve packaging as a vital tool in sales growth for food retailers whilst also putting a strong emphasis on environmental performance and responsibility. All RAP's products are available in fully recyclable materials. It has licensed production of certain of its products to third parties in the US and Asia. In Europe, product design, sales and production are based in Ireland and the UK.
Investment During The Period:
In June 2009, LEF committed to provide a £1.0m working capital facility to RAP to fund the purchase of equipment, installation costs and planned increased stock levels in advance of a new product launch aimed at Continental Europe and North America in the first half of 2010. In November 2009, RAP drew down a further £0.2m on the working capital facility bringing the remaining amount available for draw down to £0.5m at 31 December 2009.
Recent Highlights Include:
§ Successful launch with a major food on the move retailer in France (forecast annual value in the region of £0.75m).
§ Revenue in the first quarter (ended 31 December 2009) is 9.3% above budget and is expected to increase as new packaging systems are launched.
§ New manufacturing equipment designed to enable the launch of two new packaging systems has been successfully installed in RAP's factory in Ireland and is operating according to expectations.
§ Customer trials of new products are ongoing with companies in the ready meal and sandwich markets in the UK and Europe. The company expects to be able to announce the launch of these products in the spring of 2010.
§ Two significant customer trials have also started in the US market.
LEF has a seat on the Board of RAP. Nick Pople, of the Investment Adviser, is the LEF representative.
STX Services B.V.
Environmental Product Broking
Valuation at 31 December 2009 (method): £3.2m (EVCA Valuation methodology)
Investment: €0.8m (£0.6m) (Ordinary Shares)
LEF Ownership:19.2%
Date(s) of Investment:Q4 2007, Q1/Q2 2008
Company Summary:
STX is an Amsterdam-based company specialising in the broking of environmental financial products with a particular focus on the carbon markets. STX has mostly been active in broking EU Emission Allowances ("EUAs") but has diversified into transactions in Certified Emission Reduction ("CERs"), Biofuel Tickets, Green Certificates and other environmental financial products. STX is active across the European markets.
Investment During The Period:
No further investments were made during the period.
Recent Highlights Include:
§ Interim results to 30 September 2009 were ahead of budget at a PBT level. However, the lack of consensus following Copenhagen has provided some uncertainty over the near term prospects for carbon markets.
§ Continues to attract new clients, and revenue generating areas have expanded to include: spot EUAs and CERs; RECs (spot and forward) including STX's first UK REC deal; biofuel tickets; biofuel barges; and NOX.
§ Now regularly broking Compulsory Stock Obligation ("CSO") deals. The scheme is administered by the UK Department of Industry. A CSO represents a minimum stock of fuel reserves that must be held by a supplier against shortages or interruptions in supply.
§ Team has expanded and two new junior traders and a back office employee are joining the team in Q1 2010. Following these new hires, STX will comprise 13 brokers and 4 support staff.
LEF has a seat on the Supervisory Committee and the Credit Committee of STX. Nick Pople and Nigel Meir, of the Investment Adviser, are the LEF representatives to these Committees, respectively.
Terra Nova SAS
Electronic Waste Recycling
Valuation at 31 December 2009 (method): £3.0m (at cost)
Investment: £2.7m (Preference Shares)
LEF Ownership:c.25%
Date(s) of Investment:Q4 2009
Company Summary:
Terra Nova is a French company established to develop a printed circuit board treatment and recycling business. The team behind Terra Nova has extensive experience in the metals industry having worked together for a number of years at Metaleurop, a quoted lead, zinc and precious metal processor. The company has commenced construction of a 30,000 tonnes per annum pyrolysis plant to pre-treat printed circuit boards for the major metal smelters. The new facility will help meet the requirements of the EU Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, easing the pressure to export harmful waste to the developing world. Terra Nova is located within the Arcelor-Mittal industrial site at Isbergues (Pas-de-Calais), France.
Investment During The Period:
In December 2009, LEF led a total €8.1m funding round into Terra Nova with an initial investment of €3.0m.
Recent Highlights Include:
§ Terra Nova will use the funds to construct, commission and operate a pre-treatment and recycling plant for printed circuit boards in Northern France.
§ Has been awarded the French Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control ("IPPC") consent and plant construction has already commenced.
§ Operations are expected to start by Q1 2011.
§ Discussions have already commenced for production volumes greater than the capacity of the plant.
LEF has a seat and, additionally, has observer status on the Board of Terra Nova. Charles des Forges, a member of LEF's Advisory Panel, has been nominated as Chairman of the Supervisory Committee and Bill Weil and Nick Curtis, of the Investment Adviser, are alternates as the LEF observer.
Phoslock Water Solutions Ltd (ASX: PHK)
Water Treatment Technology
Valuation at 31 December 2009 (method): £0.6m (quoted share price)
Investment: £0.4m (Ordinary Shares with Warrants)
LEF Ownership:3.0%
Date(s) of Investment:Q3 2008, Q2/Q3 2009
Company Summary:
Phoslock is a unique water treatment product, invented and developed by the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia's national scientific organization. Phoslock retains phosphorus and provides a protective capping to sediments preventing phosphorus re-release, thus improving water quality for human use and aquatic life as well as preventing harmful algae blooms. Phoslock is used for lakes, drinking water reservoirs and other high value water bodies. PWS is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, with offices in Kunming, China and Bremen, Germany, and is represented by licensees and agents in another ten countries.
Investment During The Period:
No further investments were made during the period.
Recent Highlights Include:
§ October 2009 - Announced that inventory levels are to be increased in order to meet anticipated orders in the first half of 2010.
§ November 2009 - Continues to focus on larger projects following the largest application of Phoslock on a lake in northern Germany in August 2009.
§ November 2009 - Growing pipeline of c. 15,000 metric tons of applications (c. 11,000 metric tons in December 2008).
§ January 2010 - Received tenders for six separate projects globally totalling in excess of 2,500 tons or c. A$6.0m in sales revenue.
Emergya Wind Technologies B.V.
Wind Turbine Manufacturing
Valuation at 31 December 2009 (method): £0.4m (re-valued at €0.03/sh based on latest Preference Share Issue)
Investment: £2.2m (8% Preference Shares) and £0.4m (Preference Shares with Warrants)
LEF Ownership:2.5%
Date(s) of Investment:Q4 2007, Q3 2008, Q2/Q4 2009
Company Summary:
EWT is a Dutch-based manufacturer and supplier of wind turbines and turnkey wind parks. It specialises in the development and manufacture of advanced direct-drive (gearless) wind turbines. EWT was established in 2004 by the acquisition of the intellectual property of Dutch wind turbines manufacturer Lagerwey. The current product consists of the 750 KW and the 900 KW series and EWT is also developing 2 MW wind turbines for onshore applications.
Investment During The Period:
In December 2009, LEF made an investment of €250,000 into Preferred Shares of EWT at a price of €0.03 per share. LEF's investment was part of a €10.0m funding round providing support for the continued turnaround and expected growth of EWT in 2010. LEF has maintained it's pro rata percentage (approximately 2.5%) ownership of EWT and participated alongside all major current shareholders. Following the funding round completed on 15 December 2009 and LEF's investment, the carrying value of EWT has decreased to €0.03 per share, valuing the investment at £0.4m.
Recent Highlights Include:
§ January 2010 - Eric Bakker, the newly appointed CEO, previously responsible for the creation of BP Alternative Energy, and for the development of some 600 MW of wind energy in the US, has taken steps to solve the issues that have impacted EWT negatively under the close scrutiny of the Investor's Steering Committee.
§ January 2010 - 54 of the 55 wind turbines for the first Chinese project have been erected, electrical installation has been partially completed, with commissioning expected in the next few months.
§ January 2010 - Progress on the 2.3 MW direct drive wind turbine continues and EWT are researching, identifying and seeking financing for the first test site.
LEF has observer status to the weekly Steering Committee of EWT. Edward Daniels, of the Investment Adviser, is the LEF representative.
Renewable Energy Generation (AIM:RWE)
UK Onshore Wind Development
Valuation at 31 December 2009 (method): £0.3m (quoted share price)
Investment: £0.5m (Ordinary Shares)
LEF Ownership:less than 1%
Date(s) of Investment:Q3 2008
Company Summary:
Renewable Energy Generation ("REG") is a UK focused renewable energy group, quoted on AIM (RWE), principally involved with wind power generation and bio power. The Group develops, owns and operates UK wind farms and also generates power in the UK from refined, used vegetable cooking oil.
Investment During The Period:
No further investments were made during the period.
Recent Highlights Include:
§ October 2009 - Announced the sale of AIM PowerGen Corporation (REG's wholly owned Canadian subsidiary) to International Power Canada, Inc. for an initial cash consideration of C$124.8m; REG will now focus on the UK onshore wind market and generating power from refined, used vegetable cooking oil.
§ November 2009 - Announced acquisition of a 4 MW consented site for £0.8m with build targeted for completion by the end of 2010 and is making progress acquiring turbines for existing consented sites in a favourable market.
§ November 2009 - Announced that it had repaid all outstanding debt, and was looking to accelerate the company's wind development with investment of c. £100m (debt and equity) in the next three years.
Azure Dynamics Corporation (TSX:AZD)
Electric and Hybrid Electric Drive Technology
Valuation at 31 December 2009 (method): £0.2m (quoted share price)
Investment: £0.1m (Ordinary Shares)
LEF Ownership: less than 1%
Date(s) of Investment: Q2/Q3 2008
Company Summary:
Azure Dynamics Corporation is a world leader in the development and production of hybrid electric and electric components and powertrain systems. Azure is strategically targeting the commercial delivery vehicle and shuttle bus markets. The company states that, in new shuttle lines, fuel consumption is cut by up to 40%, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by more than 30% and vehicle maintenance costs can be reduced by 30%. AZD is headquartered in Detroit with offices in four centres across North America.
Divestment During The Period:
In Q4 2009, LEF sold 321,000 shares at an average sale price of c.15p generating an average profit of 5.5p per share.
Recent Highlights Include:
§ October 2009 - Ford announced with Azure that it has joined in a collaborative effort to deliver pure battery electric Ford Transit Connect vans for the US and Canadian markets in 2010.
§ November 2009 - Announced the purchase of 51 Balance Hybrid Electric walk in vans to be delivered in November/December 2009 to FedEx Express.
§ December 2009 - One of Azure's customer, Purolator Courier has placed an order for an additional 200 Balance Hybrid Electric delivery trucks, representing Azure's largest revenue order to date, all of which, will be delivered in 2010.
Deal Flow
As Investment Adviser to the Fund, we continue to monitor closely existing portfolio companies both in terms of current performance and future prospects. To facilitate continued growth, a number of these companies are likely to require additional funding in 2010/11 and the Fund would expect to support this growth through further investment into these companies.
In terms of new investments, we continue to review the opportunities we see through the marketplace, as well as those generated internally. We expect this pipeline to increase as the cleantech sector continues to mature and additional development capital is sought from companies looking to facility further expansion and roll-out.
The majority of the opportunities we have reviewed in the period continue to be focused on energy-generation (solar, biomass and waste), recycling and waste (plastics, metals and municipal solid waste), and efficiency (energy saving technologies, green building materials).
As discussed in the Market section above, many capital-intensive companies looking to finance growth through the debt markets are finding the availability of and the terms of financing challenging. This inability to raise finance, other than on expensive terms, is being reflected in the structures and valuations of deals in the pipeline.
Other Fund Data
ISIN Number - shares JE00BIYW3102
ISIN Number - warrants JE00BIYW3L02
Reuters RIC Code - shares LEF.L
Reuters RIC Code - warrants LEFW.L
Bloomberg code - shares LEFLN
Bloomberg code - warrants LEFWLN
Contact Details
Ludgate Environmental Fund Limited
John Shakeshaft +44 (0)7771 976 278
Ludgate Investments Limited
Nick Pople / Nigel Meir +44 (0)20 7621 5770
Media Enquiries
Shared Value Limited
Peter Edsinger +44 (0)20 7321 5038
NOMAD
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Melville Trimble +44(0)20 7583 5000
Broker
Matrix Corporate Capital LLP
Paul Fincham +44 (0)20 3206 7175
Important Information
Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of investments and the income generated from them may go down as well as up and are not guaranteed. You may not get back the amount you originally invested. Changes in rates of exchange and stock market performance may cause the value of investments to fluctuate. Where investments are made in unquoted securities or smaller companies, their potential volatility may increase the risk to the value of, and the income from, the investments. Net Asset Value (NAV) performance is not the same as share price, and you may realize returns that are lower or higher than NAV performance.
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