The
information contained in this announcement is restricted and is not
for publication, release or distribution in the United States of
America, any member state of the European Economic Area (other than
to professional investors in Belgium, Denmark, the Republic of
Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden), Canada,
Australia, Japan or the Republic of South Africa.
The
information contained within this announcement is deemed by the
Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the
Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 which forms part of
domestic law in the United Kingdom pursuant to The European Union
Withdrawal Act 2018, as amended by The Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU
Exit) Regulations 2019.
12 July 2024
Chrysalis Investments Limited
("Chrysalis" or the "Company")
Disposal and Liquidity
Update
Graphcore
The Company can confirm that the
"likely disposal" announced on 5 December 2023 relates to
Graphcore, which has today announced its acquisition by SoftBank
Group Corp ("SoftBank").
Chrysalis expects to receive cash
proceeds of approximately $56.0 million (gross of modest deferred
payments, typical of this type of transaction; initial
consideration is expected to be $54.8 million); the Company's
position in the capital structure of this investment led to a
significantly better outcome than otherwise might have been the
case.
The expected pounds sterling
proceeds of £43.8 million (assuming the gross proceeds are applied
for valuation purposes) represent a 25% premium (equating to circa
1.46 pence per share) to the Company's current carrying value of
Graphcore of £35.1 million, as of 31 March 2024.
The Investment Adviser has been
clear that this was one of the riskier positions in the portfolio:
one that offered a play on the rise of the, at the time, nascent AI
market, but where the downside protection of the Company's position
in the capital structure offered a way of defraying that
risk.
Liquidity
As of 10 July 2024, the Company had
total liquidity of approximately £13.8 million (comprised of
approximately £11.6 million of cash and a position in Wise worth
approximately £2.2 million). The decrease in liquidity from March
2024 mainly reflects further investment made into wefox totalling
approximately €10.5 million, as well as the decrease in the share
price of Wise, following the release of its preliminary results to
March 2024.
Following the sale of Graphcore, and
net of a further expected investment into wefox, the Company
expects to have total liquidity of approximately £50 million. As
such, the "cash reserve" detailed under the Company's Capital
Allocation Policy ("CAP") will have been met.
Nick Williamson and Richard
Watts (Managing Partners of the Investment Adviser)
comment:
"With the sale of Graphcore, the Company will have met the
cash reserve required to fulfil the first part of the CAP; any
further realisations should trigger the second part of the CAP,
namely the return of £100 million to
shareholders.
As
mentioned in the interim report, the Company continues to be
involved in other processes, at different stages of maturity and
certainty, that could lead to further cash realisations and we are
still exploring the merits of combining these with a debt
facility.
While the Graphcore investment thesis did not play out as
originally envisaged, the knowledge the company built in this space
was valuable and this has been recognised by SoftBank. As such, we
congratulate Nigel Toon and his team on effecting this exit and
wish them well for the future."
-ENDS-
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For
further information, please contact
Media
Montfort Communications:
Charlotte McMullen / Imogen
Saunders
|
+44
(0) 7921 881 800
chrysalis@montfort.london
|
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Chrysalis Investment Partners LLP:
James Simpson
|
+44
(0) 20 7871 5343
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G10
Capital Limited (AIFM):
|
+44
(0) 20 7397 5450
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Maria Baldwin
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Panmure Liberum:
Chris Clarke / Darren Vickers / Owen
Matthews
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+44
(0) 20 3100 2000
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Deutsche Numis:
Nathan Brown / Matt Goss
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+44
(0) 20 7260 1000
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Apex Administration (Guernsey) Limited:
Chris Bougourd
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+44
(0) 20 3530 3109
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LEI: 213800F9SQ753JQHSW24
A copy of this announcement will be
available on the Company's website at https://www.chrysalisinvestments.co.uk
The information contained in this
announcement regarding the Company's investments has been provided
by the relevant underlying portfolio company and has not been
independently verified by the Company. The information contained
herein is unaudited.
This announcement is for information
purposes only and is not an offer to invest. All investments are
subject to risk. Past performance is no guarantee of future
returns. Prospective investors are advised to seek expert legal,
financial, tax and other professional advice before making any
investment decision. The value of investments may fluctuate.
Results achieved in the past are no guarantee of future results.
Neither the content of the Company's website, nor the content on
any website accessible from hyperlinks on its website for any other
website, is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement
nor, unless previously published by means of a recognised
information service, should any such content be relied upon in
reaching a decision as to whether or not to acquire, continue to
hold, or dispose of, securities in the Company.
The Company is an alternative
investment fund ("AIF") for the purposes of the AIFM Directive and
as such is required to have an investment manager who is duly
authorised to undertake the role of an alternative investment fund
manager ("AIFM"). The AIFM appointed is G10 Capital Limited (part
of the IQEQ Group).