REG - Duke Royalty Limited - Proposed Change of Name, Website and Messaging

Duke CapitalAnnouncement

05/02/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 9398B  Duke Royalty Limited  05 February 2024

5 February 2024

Duke Royalty Ltd

('Duke' or 'the Company')

Proposed Change of Name, New Website, Renewed Messaging and Investor
Presentations

Duke is pleased to announce the outcome of its previously reported review of
the SME Financing sector and to update the market on its proposed change of
name to Duke Capital, new corporate website and renewed messaging.

Conclusions from our review

Duke's review has focused on ensuring that its unique offering is communicated
to business owners and stakeholders in a way which provides greater clarity
and improves comparison when evaluating a broad array of financing options. We
believe this is in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders for
the following reasons:

·      The global private credit market is a large, rapidly growing and
evolving segment of the financial sector, which includes direct lending,
mezzanine, high-yield debt and other alternative products such as royalties

·      Private credit, and especially direct lending (ie non-bank
lending) has become more widely accepted in the SME sector in the last decade,
and we believe Duke's solution is best classified as direct lending

·      Duke has a seven-year track record in providing long-term, unique
financing solutions to the lower mid-market in the UK, Europe and North
America with current invested capital of over £200 million

·      During that time, traditional royalty companies in the mining,
music and pharmaceutical sectors have proliferated, especially in the public
markets, which has resulted in confusion about Duke's solution for lower
mid-market businesses which has, to date, been known as 'corporate royalties'

·      By reframing our product as 'hybrid capital', we can more easily
convey the attributes of our financing solution to business owners and
investors and build on our momentum

·      We define hybrid capital as a financing solution that blends
features of private equity and private credit products and is more flexible
than traditional debt or equity alone

·      Despite the name change, our core product, investing policy and
investment criteria are not changing, and we will continue to provide business
owners with our unique 'corporate mortgage' debt product with equity-like
attributes which align our success with the success of the business

Additional flexibility for investing

·      Going forward, Duke will have additional flexibility to take
equity ownership over 30% if and when situations necessitate or there is clear
rationale to do so for our shareholders. The Company will maintain the same
investment approach which, unlike private equity, is not looking to take
control of the business or force an exit

·      This additional flexibility is intended to benefit investors by
enabling Duke in certain circumstances to continue longer with our best
performing partners and ensure our capital growth is maximised, while not
affecting our recurring cash revenue during the investment

·      Duke will continue to focus on receiving monthly recurring cash
revenue from its partners, and will continue to invest in profitable,
long-established private businesses which provide investors with exposure to a
broad range of sectors in UK, Western Europe and North America

Name change to Duke Capital

·      To reflect our renewed messaging, Duke proposes to change its
name to Duke Capital Limited following an Extraordinary General Meeting
("EGM"), further details of which can be found below

·      Other than the change of name, there will be no change to the
dividend policy, the stock symbol (ticker) or the shares outstanding

·      The Company has launched a new corporate website:
www.dukecapital.com (http://www.dukecapital.com)

Duke CEO Neil Johnson said, "I'm excited to share the findings of our recent
review of our positioning in the marketplace.  Over the past seven years we
have talked to hundreds of business owners looking to receive capital but
retain control and have listened to what resonates with them about having Duke
as a partner. Making the features of our product more easily relatable versus
other financing options gives us a bigger opportunity to engage with more
business owners who are used to thinking in either 'debt' or 'equity'.

"Investors are likely aware that the private credit and private equity sectors
continue to converge, and we believe Duke has been at the forefront of this
convergence for many years.  By clarifying how we describe our product, we
aim to appeal to a broader cross-section of investors who want exposure to
Duke's unique and proven private credit offering.

"This evolving industry is also rapidly growing. In particular, Blackrock
estimates direct lending has increased over six-fold in the last decade to
$650 billion and is now the largest segment of the private credit market. With
our renewed positioning and additional flexibility, we believe we can become
an increasingly important lower mid-market capital provider which will benefit
both shareholders and business owners alike."

Proposed change of name and Notice of EGM

Duke provides notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held at 10:30
a.m. on 20 February 2024 at the Company's registered office, Ground Floor,
Cambridge House, Le Truchot, St Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 1WD to approve its
change of name to Duke Capital Limited (the "Notice"). The Notice is today
being posted to shareholders, together with an accompanying form of proxy, an
electronic copy of which will shortly be available to view on the Company's
website.

 

The Company's TIDM, 'DUKE', will remain unchanged as will its ISIN.

 

The Company will make a further announcement following the EGM to confirm once
the name change is effective.

 

Investor Presentations

 

The management team is available to update shareholders at the following
events and will also put recordings on the website when they become available.

 

AJ Bell 'LIVE' Investor Evening

 

Duke will be presenting at the Shares and AJ Bell 'LIVE' investor evening in
London on Tuesday 6 February 2024, starting at 17:15, at the Novotel Tower
Bridge, London EC3N 2NR.

 

Neil Johnson, CEO, will present the latest developments and available to
answer questions. If you would like to attend, you can register for the event
here
(https://www.sharesmagazine.co.uk/events/event/shares-investor-evening-london-live-event-060224)
.

 

MelloMonday

 

Duke will be presenting at the MelloMonday webinar on Monday 19 February 2024
starting at 5pm via Zoom Webinar.

 

Neil Johnson, CEO, will be providing a trading update to webinar participants
during the event and will be taking questions after.  If you would like to
attend, you can register here
(https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmelloevents.com%2Fmm-190224%2F&data=05%7C02%7CMatthew.Elliott%40secnewgate.co.uk%7C1f897bdb5c994d57049b08dc232454cb%7Cc060be4783c04d048b1741c760ed0f7d%7C0%7C0%7C638423886454969607%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=QuKMi3GzVeg2EFBPrGJ80do%2FcYGAewDD%2BdfMJ9k0HY4%3D&reserved=0)
for a free ticket for the event using code SHR100.  The recording will be
sent out to all registrants within 48 hours of the event.

 

 

**ENDS**

 

For further information, please visit www.dukecapital.com
(http://www.dukecapital.com) , or contact:

 

 

 Duke                               Neil Johnson / Charles Cannon Brookes / Hugo Evans    +44 (0) 1481 231 816

 Cavendish Capital Markets Limited  Stephen Keys / Callum Davidson / Michael Johnson      +44 (0) 207 220 0500

 (Nominated Adviser

 and Joint Broker)

 Canaccord Genuity                  Adam James / Harry Rees                               +44 (0) 207 523 8000

 (Joint Broker)

 SEC Newgate (PR)                   Elisabeth Cowell / Alice Cho / Matthew Elliott        +44 (0) 20 3757 6882

                                                                                          duke@secnewgate.co.uk

 

 

About Duke

 

Duke is a leading provider of hybrid capital solutions for SME business owners
in Europe and North America, combining the best features of both equity and
debt.

 

Since 2017, Duke has provided unique long-term financing which eliminates
re-financing risk and necessity for a short-term exit by providing a unique
'corporate mortgage' while also aligning its returns to grow with the success
of the business.

 

Duke is focused on generating attractive risk-adjusted returns for
shareholders and has a track record of achieving this across market cycles.
It's three investment pillars are capital preservation, attractive dividend
yield, and to provide upside upon exits.

 

Duke is listed on the AIM market under the ticker DUKE and is headquartered in
Guernsey.

 

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