Honeycomb confirms Pollen Street merger to complete within weeks
Honeycomb Investment Trust has confirmed its proposed acquisition of investment manager Pollen Street is set to complete in a matter of weeks.
The alternative finance-focused trust announced its plans to acquire Pollen Street Capital in February, with the aim of creating a combined group with assets under management of up to £5bn over the next few years.
London-listed Honeycomb is set to acquire Pollen Street in an all-share deal that values the investment manager at £285m. Pollen Street’s shareholders will receive new company shares equivalent to 45.5 per cent of the enlarged company.
Read more: Honeycomb increased NAV last year
In a company update yesterday (3 August) Honeycomb said the two parties “are finalising the remaining conditions precedent to complete the combination within the coming weeks”.
The Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority approved the change in control on 1 August.
However, the timing for completion remains dependent on the receipt of remaining change in control approvals from regulators with oversight of firms within the Pollen Street Group, and the funds it manages or advises.
Read more: Alternative lending pushes investment trust dividends to record levels
Meanwhile, the investment trust reported it delivered a net asset value (NAV) return of 0.69 per cent for June, which is equivalent to 8.4 per cent on an annualised basis.
The NAV per share on 30 June 2022 was 1,019.7p, based on a NAV of £354.2m. NAV return was driven by a risk adjusted yield of 9.2 per cent.
The trust reported that Net Investment Assets remained broadly stable in June at £583m, with cash received from the recent Oplo Mortgage Portfolio sale being reinvested.
Read more: Pollen Street channels 90pc of finance outside of London
Pollen Street Credit also had an active quarter for deployment completing several new transactions and facility upsizes, according to the update.
These included a £65m senior facility to Swedish lender Ark; a £65m senior facility to European micro-mobility business Tier, a £50m senior facility to vehicle leasing and financing business Splend; a €50m (£42m) facility to Irish residential development finance lender Earlsfort, and an upsized senior facility to fintech company Iwoca by £25m, financing their UK small- and medium-sized enterprise portfolio.
The broader European pipeline was reported as standing at more than £2bn and described as “well diversified across subsectors and asset classes”.
