Baskerville Capital PLC Update on Proposed Acquisition (3023S)
July 08 2020 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMBASK
RNS Number : 3023S
Baskerville Capital PLC
08 July 2020
The information contained within this announcement is deemed to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse
Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this
announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in
the public domain.
BASKERVILLE CAPITAL PLC
('Baskerville' or the 'Company')
Update on Proposed Acquisition
On 27 January 2020, Baskerville announced the acquisition of a
7.83% shareholding in Oberon Investments Limited ('Oberon') for
GBP850,640, together with a second subscription of a further
GBP350,945 ('Second Subscription'). Baskerville also entered into
non-legally binding heads of agreement with Oberon to acquire the
entire issued share capital of Oberon not already owned by it
('Proposed Acquisition').
Oberon is the holding company of MD Barnard & Co Limited
(trading as Oberon Investments), an FCA regulated fund manager, see
www.oberoninvestments.com. The investment has been made by
Baskerville to assist Oberon in funding and accelerating its growth
strategy.
The Second Subscription has now been made in Oberon. As a result
of better than expected trading, the directors of Oberon requested
that the amount of the Second Subscription be reduced. As such, a
second subscription of GBP295,390 was made for a further 2.3% of
the equity of Oberon.
Since the original investment in Oberon was made, assets under
administration ('AUA') at Oberon have grown organically from
GBP120m to just under GBP200m, despite the decline in markets
triggered by the Covid pandemic. Further to this, on 26 June 2020,
Oberon completed the acquisition of the UK retail wealth management
business of Hanson Asset Management, adding an additional GBP100m
of AUA, bringing Oberon's total AUA to over GBP300m. Alongside the
acquisition, Oberon is pleased to welcome The Hon. Robert Hanson as
Non-Executive Chairman. Robert brings considerable experience in
financial markets, along with a strong contact base, which will
help accelerate the Oberon's growth plans.
Oberon has additional acquisition targets in the pipeline, and
we hope to be able to provide further updates shortly.
The Proposed Acquisition of Oberon is subject to legal,
financial and other due diligence and entry into a legally binding
agreement. As the Company has not yet entered into such an
agreement, it cannot guarantee that the Proposed Acquisition will
complete. However, following progress over the last few weeks, it
is now expected the Proposed Acquisition will be completed before
the end of Q3 2020.
On completion of the Proposed Acquisition, it is the Company's
intention to seek admission to trading on the Aquis Exchange
although the Company reserves the option to apply for admission to
the Standard segment of the Main Market or to AIM.
Rodger Sargent, Chairman of Baskerville said: "We are delighted
with the recent strong trading at Oberon. Due to the recent organic
growth and improved cash flow, the Second Subscription was
consequentially lower than initially expected.
"Oberon is an established boutique that is growing fast and
already attracting talented wealth managers from larger
competitors. They have created an attractive working environment
for their teams and the focus on providing a first-class service
for their client base is showing positive results.
"Through organic and acquisitive growth, Oberon's AUA have
increased over 200% to GBP300m since its creation. The proposed
reverse acquisition of Oberon by the Company will allow this growth
to continue and help pursue the pipeline of acquisition targets
that have been identified.
"We will continue to update with further corporate developments
within Oberon and the Proposed Acquisition and re-listing, which we
aim to complete before the end of Q3 2020."
For information please contact:
Baskerville Capital plc
Rodger Sargent
via Walbrook PR
Walbrook PR Ltd
Tel: 020 7933 8780 or baskerville@walbrookpr.com
Nick Rome
Tom Cooper
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