As ever, it has been a busy time for small-cap investors, with companies joining the market and companies leaving the market, either of their own accord ? as in the case of sports data provider 4Global (4GBL:AIM) ? or because they have been acquired, as in the case of Downing Renewables & Infrastructure Trust (DORE), which was taken private by its largest shareholder. It has also been a time...

Wide discounts to NAV (net asset value), strategic reviews and pressure from activist investors such as Saba have helped spur the record levels of takeover activity in the investment trust sector that shows no sign of letting up. Despite a noticeable narrowing of discounts in recent months, many trusts continue to trade well below NAV, so the takeover frenzy looks set to continue. While the...

Biggest shareholder launches takeover Offer at 8% discount to NAV DORE has struggled to generate scale The investment trust mergers and acquisitions (M&A) boom shows no sign of let-up with Downing Renewables & Infrastructure (DORE) the latest sub-scale fund to succumb to a take-private deal. Shares in the solar farms-to-hydropower plants backer, popularly known by its ticker 'DORE', surged 22%...

Listed infrastructure and renewable trusts have had a torrid time over the last three years with average discounts to NAV (net asset value) drifting out to between 30% and 40%.In our view the gloom and doom gone too far, with the headwinds impacting NAVs have starting to dissipate, opening the prospect of a strong recovery.We have noticed some green shoots of broad share price strength since...

According to data from the AIC, the average investment trust discount to net asset value has widened from 12.2% at the end of 2022 to 14.5% as of 8 September 2023, while sector averages have generally widened. The exception is private equity, which narrowed from 25.1% to 4.5%, skewed by 3i's (III) dramatic swing from discount to premium.While this presents an opportunity to buy into parts of...