REG - Kelso Group Holdings - Update on Kelso Investments

Kelso groupAnnouncement

17/10/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 5080I  Kelso Group Holdings PLC  17 October 2024

17 October 2024

 

Kelso Group Holdings Plc

("Kelso" or the "Company")

Update on Kelso Investments

 

Kelso, the main market listed acquisition vehicle, is pleased to announce a
further update on its new strategy as initially set out on 30 September 2024.
In that announcement, Kelso stated that it will now look to seed and invest in
listed single company acquisition vehicles which target listed, unlisted and
divisions of undervalued UK businesses where we believe there is considerable
upside. Selkirk Group Plc ("Selkirk") was announced as the first of these such
vehicles.

Kelso is pleased to announce that Selkirk's Intention to Float ("ITF")
announcement was released today alongside its Schedule 1 to raise £7.5m on
the AIM market. Kelso is pleased, as part of this listing, to have partnered
with Belerion Capital ("Belerion"), a London based investor and adviser
specialising in the e-commerce and technology and digital media sectors.
Selkirk has stated in its Schedule 1 announcement, that its investment
strategy will focus on these sectors and the first acquisition will be a
company with an enterprise value of between £30.0 million and £1.0 billion.
We are extremely pleased with the quality of the Selkirk board, which will
comprise Iain McDonald, Angus Munro and Alan Bannatyne who between them have
significant experience in both the target sectors but also in listed companies
generally and in corporate governance.

The ITF contains further details of the offering. The Executive Directors of
Kelso will help advise Selkirk and its board and Kelso will participate in the
long-term management incentive plan established within Selkirk, which we hope
in time will create considerable value uplift for Kelso shareholders.

At the same time and as previously announced, Kelso confirms that it has
participated in the THG Plc ("THG") placing announced on Friday 11 October and
acquired 2.5m new THG shares at the placing price of 49p. This 50% increase in
our holding takes Kelso's resulting holding to 7.5m shares in THG, at an
average in price of 57.5p.

There are no other changes to Kelso's investments.

Kelso has a strong balance sheet with currently no company debt borrowings and
in order to finance our increased investments in both Selkirk and THG, Kelso
has taken a short-term loan of £1.0 million from Tenn Capital Limited.

Sir Nigel Knowles, Chairman, Kelso Group, said:

"Kelso is moving into the next phase of its corporate development with pace,
to try and capitalise and unlock value on the undervalued UK stock market. We
are pleased to have created Selkirk and that it has partnered with Belerion
Capital to create value within its defined sectors. We are pleased to support
AIM with Selkirk's IPO which we believe, despite a large reduction in
companies listed in recent years, is one of the best growth exchange platforms
in the world. We would encourage the British government to do everything it
its power to support the AIM market as it is the lifeblood for many small and
growing British businesses."

For further information please contact:

 Kelso Group Holdings plc                                  +44 (0) 75 4033 3933
 John Goold, Chief Executive Officer

 Mark Kirkland, Chief Financial Officer

 Jamie Brooke, Chief Investment Officer
 Zeus (Broker)                                             +44 (0) 20 3829 5000
 Nick Cowles, Ed Beddows, John Moran (Investment Banking)

 Ben Robertson (Corporate Broking)
 Camarco                                                   +44 (0) 20 3757 4980
 Billy Clegg, Tom Huddart

 

About Kelso

Kelso was established in November 2022 to identify, engage and unlock trapped
value in the UK stock market.  Kelso's strategy is to invest in situations
where it believes there is an anomaly between the intrinsic value and
prospects of a company and its stock market valuation.  Kelso will, in
particular, look for situations where it believes the sum of the parts of a
business is greater than the current value. The Kelso team is led by an
experienced and well-invested Board and management team with a track record of
identifying and creating value in the UK small and mid-cap public markets.
There may be instances where Kelso itself could be used as a vehicle by an
undervalued company to spin off a subsidiary into its own listing. The board
of Kelso owns 20.5% of the equity having invested in each of the last three
fundraising rounds.

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