TruFin disposes of Vertus stake in £3.2m cash deal

Financial technology company TruFin announced the successful disposal of its 53.8% equity holding in Vertus Capital on Thursday to Enable Partners in a cash transaction worth £3.2m.

The AIM-traded firm said Vertus recorded a profit before tax of £0.21m in the year ended 31 December, extending a contribution of £0.16m to TruFin’s annual pre-tax profit.

As of 30 June, TruFin’s share of Vertus’ net assets and related goodwill was equivalently valued at £3.2m.

TruFin said the proceeds from the disposal would be redirected to enhance its working capital and to allocate incremental money to Oxygen and Satago within the bounds of projected return on investment expectations.

In a notable related party transaction, Watrium, holding 22.8% of TruFin’s shares, co-invested in Enable, aligning with Explore Equity II and acquiring a 48.89% stake in Enable.

Additionally, Watrium maintained a minority LP investor status in Explore.

The directors of TruFin, excluding Watrium representative Anders Wilhelmsen and in consultation with its nominated adviser Liberum, deemed the disposal terms and Watrium’s participation as fair and reasonable concerning the company’s shareholders.

“Oxygen, Satago and Playstack have made strong progress in executing their strategies over the last 24 months,” said chief executive officer James van den Bergh.

“Oxygen and Satago are both critical infrastructure software providers, whilst Playstack is a highly focused games publisher with an enviable pipeline of games secured.

“The disposal of Vertus, at an attractive valuation, simplifies and focuses the TruFin business.”

Van den Bergh said the sale proceeds would further strengthen TruFin’s balance sheet as it looked to continued momentum at Oxygen, Satago and Playstack.

“It has been a pleasure to work with Matt Marais and his team over the last few years.

“Through hard work and entrepreneurship they have succeeded in building a strong brand as a niche capital provider to the IFA community, which will act as a springboard for their exciting expansion plans.”

At 1228 BST, shares in TruFin were down 3.69% at 60.67p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.