REG - GRIT Investment Trst - Strategy Update

Grit Investment TrustAnnouncement

16/09/2022 15:00

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RNS Number : 8106Z  GRIT Investment Trust PLC  16 September 2022

For immediate release
                                          16 September
2022

GRIT Investment Trust plc

("GRIT" or "the Company")

Strategy Update

On 22 October 2021, the Company announced the new Board appointments of
Richard Lockwood and Malcolm Burne, both of whom were veteran fund managers,
with exceptional records in the natural resources sector, together with plans
to progress its plans to commence the re-building of a diverse portfolio of
natural resources investments.

On 30 June 2022, the Company announced that for the year ended 31 December
2021 the Company's principal investment remained its 25% equity interest in
and loans to Anglo-African Minerals plc ("AAM") located in Guinea and that as
any immediate sale of that asset appeared unlikely, the Company continued to
adopt a prudent view and to reflect the Company's investment in and loans to
AAM at a nil value. The Company also then announced that in early 2021 the
Company received and subsequently accepted an offer for its shares in Siberian
Goldfields, recognising a capital surplus of £488,000 in the current year.

On 29 July 2022, the Company announced that it had agreed with the holders of
the outstanding £599,201 convertible loan notes issued pursuant to a loan
note instrument dated 30 July 2021, to extend the final redemption date from
31 July 2022 to 30 September 2022.

Since the appointment of the new Board members as referred to above, the
Company has been progressing a possible issue of new shares to finance its
ongoing investment policy as an investment trust. This process involved
seeking approval for the publication of a prospectus, a process which subject
to confirmation of the amount to be raised was nearing completion, and also
seeking either internal authorisation as, or the external appointment of, an
Alternative Investment Fund Manager ("AIFM").

However, the Board has regrettably come to the conclusion that due both to the
difficulties of completing this latter process and the prevailing lack of
positive market sentiment towards the resource sector, the planned
re-establishment of the Company as an active resource-focused investment trust
has become unachievable.

Accordingly, the Company has therefore withdrawn both its AIFM and prospectus
applications and will not be making any further investments in accordance with
its investment policy. It will however monitor its remaining existing
investments with a view to realising any value for the benefit of the Company
and its Shareholders.

In the light of the above, the Board of the Company has decided that it will
be in the best interest of its shareholders to look for a business to acquire
that would constitute a reverse takeover and require shareholder approval. In
conjunction with such an acquisition, the Company would seek a new listing for
the enlarged group on an appropriate public market. The Board have given
themselves a period of twelve months from the date of this announcement to
find a suitable reverse candidate before cancellation of its listing is put
forward to shareholders. The announcement of any such proposed transaction may
result in the temporary suspension of the Company's shares from trading on the
Official List. A further announcement will be made as appropriate in due
course.

 

Enquiries:

GRIT Investment Trust plc

 

Richard Lockwood

Chairman

 

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3198 2554

Peterhouse Capital Limited (Broker)

Lucy Williams/Duncan Vasey

Tel: +44 (0)20 7469 0930

 

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