RCS - Foresight Group Hldg - PE division fundraising of over £180 million

Foresight groupAnnouncement

01/02/2024 07:15

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RNS Number : 6113B  Foresight Group Holdings Limited  01 February 2024

01 February 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Private Equity division fundraising of over £180 million

 

Foresight Group Holdings Limited ("Foresight", the "Group"), a leading
infrastructure and private equity investment manager, today provides an update
on year-to-date institutional private equity and retail venture capital trust
("VCT") fundraising.

 

Regional Private Equity

 

The AIB Foresight SME Impact Fund ("the Fund") will receive further funding
from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund ("ISIF"). The Fund, which reached
first close with a cornerstone commitment from Allied Irish Banks ("AIB") in
2022, supports small and medium sized companies ("SMEs") across Ireland to
fund growth, to adopt sustainable best practices and advance Ireland's
transition to a green economy. ISIF is providing a €25 million commitment as
part of its €1 billion 5-year climate investment programme. This will see
Foresight further expand its Dublin office and broader activity across
Ireland.

 

VCTs

 

Foresight has seen strong demand for the offers for subscription of Foresight
VCT Plc and Foresight Enterprise VCT Plc, with both recently announced as
oversubscribed(1). While the £55 million(2) total raised across both funds is
comparable with the prior year, the funds have reached capacity far earlier
this financial year. This reflects positively on the Group's specialist
in-house retail sales team and the strong recent performance of both funds
having delivered top three positions(3) when compared with peers on a one year
share price total return basis.

 

These developments strengthen Foresight's position as a leading UK and Ireland
regional SME investor, taking the division's total fundraising to over £180
million in the financial year-to-date. Funds raised include the previously
announced first closes for two new regional funds serving Wales (£50 million)
and Northern Ireland (£10 million), over £50 million of top up investments
into existing regional funds and close to £70 million into VCT and EIS funds.

 

 

Bernard Fairman, Executive Chairman of Foresight Group Holdings Limited,
commented:

 

"Foresight continues to deliver consistent fundraising into higher margin
vehicles, underpinned by strong fund performance and the strength of our
in-house sales team. In combination with our institutional infrastructure
fundraising ambitions, we remain confident that the Group will continue its
track record of profitable growth."

 

Notes:

1.     On the basis of the applications now received and assuming that
they are all accepted.

2.     Total comprises Foresight VCT Plc's offer for subscription of up to
£20 million with an over-allotment facility for a further £5 million and
Foresight Enterprise VCT Plc's offer for subscription of up to £20 million
with an over-allotment facility for a further £10 million.

3.     Source: www.theaic.co.uk (http://www.theaic.co.uk) , with data as
at 30 January 2024.

 

 Foresight Group Investors                           H / Advisors Maitland
 Liz Scorer / Ben McGrory                            Sam Cartwright / Audrey Da Costa
 +44 (0) 7966 966956 / +44 (0) 7443 821577           +44 (0) 782 725 4561 / +44 (0) 781 710 5562
 ir@foresightgroup.eu (mailto:ir@foresightgroup.eu)  Foresight@h-advisors.global (mailto:Foresight@h-advisors.global)

 

 

 

 

About Foresight Group Holdings Limited

Foresight Group was founded in 1984 and is a leading listed infrastructure and
private equity investment manager. With a long-established focus on ESG and
sustainability-led strategies, it aims to provide attractive returns to its
institutional and private investors from hard-to-access private markets.
Foresight manages over 400 infrastructure assets with a focus on solar and
onshore wind assets, bioenergy and waste, as well as renewable energy enabling
projects, energy efficiency management solutions, social and core
infrastructure projects and sustainable forestry assets. Its private equity
team manages an extensive footprint of regionally focused investment funds
across the UK and Ireland. This team reviews over 3,000 business plans each
year and currently supports more than 250 investments in SMEs. Foresight
Capital Management manages four strategies across seven investment vehicles.

Foresight operates in eight countries across Europe, Australia and United
States with AUM of £12.4 billion*. Foresight Group Holdings Limited listed on
the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in February 2021 and is a
constituent of the FTSE250 index. https://www.foresightgroup.eu/shareholders
(https://www.foresightgroup.eu/shareholders)

*Based on unaudited AUM as at 31 December 2023.

 

Disclaimer - Forward-looking statements

This announcement, prepared by Foresight Group Holdings Limited (the
"Company"), may contain forward-looking statements about the Company. Such
forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking
terminology, including the terms "believes", "projects", "estimates", "plans",
"anticipates", "targets", "aims", "continues", "expects", "intends", "hopes",
"may", "will", "would", "could" or "should" or, in each case, their negative
or other various or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors which
are beyond the Company's control and are based on the Company's beliefs and
expectations about future events as of the date the statements are made. If
the assumptions on which the Company bases its forward-looking statements
change, actual results may differ from those expressed in such statements.
There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments
to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements, including those set out under "Principal Risks" in the Company's
annual report for the financial year ended 31 March 2023. The annual report
can be found on the Company's website (https://www.foresightgroup.eu/).
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Except as
required by applicable law and regulation, the Company undertakes no
obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Nothing in this
announcement should be construed as a profit forecast.

 

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