Gresham House sees strong growth in H1, looks to raise £40m

Gresham House said on Friday that assets under management rose 19% in the six months ended 30 June to £4.72bn, while cash and liquid assets remained broadly unchanged at £45.0m.

Total net core income rose 31% to £23.0m, helping swing the group from a £2.2m total comprehensive loss at the end of 2020 to a £5.2m profit at the midway point of 2021. The AIM-listed firm's adjusted operating profit was also 32% firmer at £6.9m.

In a separate announcement, Gresham House stated it had agreed to acquire the Venture Capital Trust business of Mobeus Equity Partners for an initial consideration of £24.0m, with a further consideration of up to £12.1m payable over a three-year period, subject to the achievement of certain criteria.

Gresham intends to raise gross proceeds of approximately £40.0m through a placing, which includes a £20.0m cash placing of 2.19m new ordinary shares at a price of 910.0p each and a £20.0m vendor placing at the same price. Net proceeds of the placing will be used to fund the acquisition and development projects such as battery storage and solar projects.

Gresham also announced a conditional offer for a subscription via PrimaryBid of up to a value of £2.0m at a discount of 2.15% to the stock's closing mid-market price on 9 September 2021.

As of 0910 BST, Gresham House shares were up 3.01% at 958.0p.