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
oversubscribed1. While the £55 million2 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 positions3 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,
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
|
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
*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.