Gresham House progresses a number of fundraises and deployments

Specialist alternative asset manager Gresham House updated the market on a number of its portfolio companies and fundraising efforts on Friday.

The AIM-traded firm said Wildanet, a Cornwall-based provider of ultrafast broadband and one of its British Sustainable Infrastructure Fund portfolio companies, had been awarded new contracts worth £36m to connect around 20,000 “hard-to-reach” homes and businesses in the south west and mid-Cornwall.

It said the contracts were part of the UK Government's £5bn Project Gigabit (F20) programme, which was aiming to connect 19,250 hard-to-reach homes and businesses and create 200 new skilled jobs in Cornwall.

Wildanet was already investing more than £50m in its high-speed broadband network across Cornwall and Devon, which the board said would include the creation of 150 skilled jobs in the area, after a £50m backing from Gresham House's sustainable infrastructure strategy in 2020.

In addition, Gresham House said its Baronsmead Venture Trust and Baronsmead Second Venture Trust (the Baronsmead VCTs) had raised £17.3m in the first 10 days of their latest fundraise.

The VCTs were targeting a raise of up £40m in total, with over-allotment facilities to raise up to a further £10m.

It said the £17.3m raised to date represented 43% of the total targeted.

Finally, the firm said that Gresham House Residential Secure Income LP (ReSI LP), a limited partnership investing in UK shared ownership property, had agreed a £40m deal with mixed-tenure developer Countryside Partnerships to fund 167 new affordable homes in Chippenham, Wiltshire.

The deal would provide forward funding for 167 new affordable houses and apartments at Langley Park in Chippenham as part of a larger 340-home project.

Gresham House said it had now invested in more than 2,150 shared ownership homes across ReSI LP and its separate listed investment trust counterpart, Residential Secure Income plc.

“These fundraisings and deployments continue to show the opportunity from the Gresham House platforms, enabling sustainable and responsible investment in key areas of infrastructure and housing, that in turn support economic growth and social well-being,” said chief executive officer Tony Dalwood.

At 0909 GMT, shares in Gresham House were down 0.92% at 753p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.