Gresham House agrees to buy Hazel Capital

AIM-listed specialist asset manager Gresham House has entered into exclusivity arrangements and conditional heads of terms to acquire Hazel Capital, a UK asset manager of new energy infrastructure, for an undisclosed sum.

The deal, which is expected to complete in the third quarter, is line with Gresham's strategy to grow both organically and through acquisition, and the group said it is "highly complementary" to its existing Real Assets division and the objectives of the recently-announced British Strategic Investment Fund.

The purchase will be funded using shares issued at a premium to the current share price, plus a deferred earn out in cash and shares. Gresham House has been granted a period of exclusivity until 31 December 2017 to finalise its due diligence and the terms of the proposed acquisition.

Chief executive officer Tony Dalwood said: "We see a substantial growth opportunity in renewables and new energy infrastructure-related assets and today's announcement is the first step towards bringing a recognised expert investor in this growing sector into our group.

"Hazel Capital's success in generating market leading returns through its Venture Capital Trusts and Enterprise Investment Schemes platform within the growth areas of infrastructure related asset management, fits well with our strategy to develop our range of alternative and illiquid investment solutions for long term investors."

Hazel Capital advises on more than £100m of assets with a product portfolio including VCT and EIS designed to generate attractive yields with downside protection provided by strong real asset backing.

At 1010 BST, the shares were flat at 329p.