The Chrysalis investment trust has taken out a £70m loan in an effort to improve liquidity, which includes the option to take out an additional £15m if needed.
With this new capital, Chrysalis intends to return £100m to shareholders, likely in the form of buybacks. The additional money will bring the trust’s liquidity position from £47.2m to £117.2m.
The £504m trust is down 68.1% over the past three years and its shares are trading at a sizable 47.6% discount to its net asset value, but a potential share buyback programme could rectify that.
Managers Nick Williamson and Richard Watts said the newly added debt “will allow the Company to accelerate returns to shareholders as realisations occur within the portfolio”.
Williamson and Watts left Jupiter Asset Management in March this year to set up their own firm that would allow them to manage Chrysalis independently.
