REG - River and Mercantile - Compulsory Partial Redemption

River and Mercantile UK Micro Cap InvestmentAnnouncement

28/04/2021 09:30

RNS Number : 8666W
  
River & Mercantile UK Micro Cap Inv
  
28 April 2021
  
 

28 April 2021
 
River and Mercantile UK Micro Cap Investment Company Limited
 
The information contained within this announcement constitutes inside information.
 
Partial Compulsory Redemption
The Board of River and Mercantile UK Micro Cap Investment Company Limited (the "Company") is pleased to announce its intention to undertake a fifth compulsory Redemption (the "Redemption") of its redeemable ordinary shares of no par value (the "Shares") pursuant to the Company's redemption mechanism (the "Redemption Mechanism"). The Redemption Mechanism is used periodically to return capital to Shareholders so as to return the Company's net asset value ("NAV") to around £100 million, in accordance with the Company's stated policy in the original Prospectus.  At this level of NAV the Board believes the Company is best able to exploit fully the underlying investment opportunity available in AIM listed stocks.
Having completed an earlier Redemption in February of this year where £15 million was returned to Shareholders, following a period of further strong performance under the stewardship of the Company's lead portfolio manager George Ensor, the Company's NAV has grown to approximately £122 million.  Accordingly, a further £20 million is now to be returned to Shareholders pursuant to the Redemption at a price based on the Company's NAV per Share as at close of business on 23 April 2021.  The Company's NAV per Share as at 23 April 2021 was £3.0180 and, accordingly, after deduction for expenses, the amount to be paid to Shareholders for each redeemed Share is £3.0179 (the "Redemption Price").  The Redemption is being effected pro rata to holdings of Shares on the register at the close of business on 7 May 2021 (the "Redemption Date").  It is expected that payments of Redemption monies will be effected either through CREST (in the case of Shares held in uncertificated form) or by cheque (in the case of Shares held in certificated form) by 14 May 2021.
Andrew Chapman, Chairman of River and Mercantile UK Micro Cap Investment Company Limited, said: "The Trust has performed extremely strongly over the last several months. The portfolio manager's steadfast focus on the strategy and belief in the growth potential of the UK Micro Cap sector during this period has delivered for our investors. This is the fifth Redemption since the Company's launch in December 2014 and indeed the Company will have now returned more to investors - a total of £77 million - than it raised at IPO and subsequently, a total of £70 million. These multiple redemptions enhance returns to investors and maintain the level of assets at the appropriate amount for investing nimbly in the microcap sector.  The current Redemption is being done at over 300p per share which compares very favourably with the original issue price of 100p. This is tangible evidence that we are continuing to deliver on our promise and we look forward to continued strong performance."
 
Further information
The Redemption is being effected pursuant to a general authorisation to redeem shares held by all Shareholders in accordance with the redemption mechanism in the Company's articles of incorporation.  Approximately 16.35% of Shares in issue will be redeemed and cancelled.
Prior to the Redemption the Company has 40,523,412 Shares in issue.  All of the Shares redeemed on the Redemption Date will be cancelled. No fractions of Shares will be redeemed and so the number of Shares to be redeemed for each Shareholder will be rounded down to the nearest whole number of Shares.
The Shares will be disabled in CREST after close of business on the Redemption Date and the existing ISIN number - GG00BMVHP751 (the "Old ISIN") - will expire. The new ISIN in respect of the remaining Shares which have not been redeemed - GG00BNDMJP11 (the "New ISIN") - will be enabled and available for transactions from 8.00 a.m. on 10 May 2021. Up to and including the Redemption Date, Shares will be traded under the Old ISIN and as such, a purchaser of such Shares would have a market claim for a proportion of the redemption proceeds. CREST will automatically transfer any open transactions as at the Redemption Date to the New ISIN.
Expected timetable:
Record date for the Redemption                               7 May 2021
Redemption Date and expiry of Old ISIN                  7 May 2021
New ISIN enabled                                                        10 May 2021
Redemption monies paid by                                      14 May 2021
Unless otherwise defined, capitalised words and phrases in this announcement shall have the meaning given to them in the Company's prospectus dated 4 November 2014.
The person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Jasper Cross of BNP Paribas Securities Services S.C.A., Guernsey Branch, Company Secretary.
Enquiries:
N+1 Singer
Robert Peel
+44 (0)20 7496 3067
Camarco
Rebecca Noonan
+44 (0)7900 340483
 

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