Mercia’s Northern Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) have launched a new share offer of up to £60m to enable them to pursue new investment opportunities while providing scale-up funding for existing portfolio companies.
The fundraise – which consists of a £42m share offer divided equally between the three VCTs, with an £18m over-allotment option – builds upon their proven track record and follows a series of successful exits.
The Northern VCTs have total net assets of £343m and a diversified portfolio of over 50 companies, with exposure across different sectors and regions. Investors can benefit from specific VCT tax reliefs, including an upfront 30% income tax relief, dividend income tax exemption, and a capital gains tax exemption on VCT share disposals.
Over the past 18 months, the Northern VCTs have exited from eight portfolio companies. They include Glasgow-based health and safety platform Evotix; London-based multi-channel advertising company Lineup Systems; Nottingham risk management software specialist Ideagen; Boclips, an education platform based in Greater Manchester; and Manchester-based IT consultancy Intechnica.
Peter Dines, Managing Director of Mercia Ventures, commented: “This offering allows investors to be a part of our growth journey and highlights the UK’s promising unquoted sector. The Northern VCTs not only offer the potential to generate significant returns and benefit from tax incentives, but also to support smaller businesses who are driving innovation and helping to stimulate the UK economy.”
The Northern VCTs focus on leading unquoted businesses and target consistent long-term capital growth and annual dividends of between 4.5% and 5% of net asset value. They have a buy-back policy at a 5% discount to the latest Net Asset Value, reinforcing liquidity assurance for investors.
Find out more about the Northern VCTs’ share offer.