Two years after their last fundraising effort, four Mobeus VCTs have attracted £35m less than a day after the offering opened.
The appeal of venture capital trusts (VCTs) has, understandably, been rising over the past couple of years, in light of growing market turbulence. During the 2020/21 tax year, the sector raised a record £685m, up 11% from the previous year.
They offer key benefits to investors and, if the associated risks are carefully considered, can be the answer to investors seeking to capitalise on the current economic climate and back high-quality, better-capitalised companies with lower valuations, Triple Point strategic sales director Jack Rose told Portfolio Adviser back in October.
Regular income stream
The four Mobeus VCT portfolios comprise 44 companies, valued at £367.2m including cash, as of September 2021.
The latest fund-raise added the following in just 22 hours:
- Income & Growth VCT – £10m
- Mobeus Income & Growth VCT – £10m
- Mobeus Income & Growth 2 VCT – £7.5m
- Mobeus Income & Growth 4 VCT – £7.5m
They were acquired by specialist alternative asset manager Gresham House in September 2021, for an initial consideration of £24m, plus up to an additional £12.1m payable over three years, provided certain criteria are achieved.
The two businesses have a combined £850m of VCT assets under management.
‘Truly patient capital’
Trevor Hope, chief investment officer, strategic equity at Gresham House, said: “Venture capital trusts provide an opportunity for private individuals to invest in small and medium-sized UK enterprises.
“The Mobeus VCTs will continue its well-developed investment strategy of providing truly patient capital to younger companies, fuelling the UK economy and creating rich intellectual property and employment.”
He added that the fund-raise “included nearly 50% support from existing shareholders and their advisers”.
