Multiple CEFs Facing Delistings and Wind-ups

CEF Times: Gartmore Irish Growth put forward a wind-up proposal that may no longer suit the portfolios of current investors; ACP Capital to be delisted; and more

Jackie Beard, FCSI, 2 March, 2011 | 11:14AM
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CEF News: 24 February-2 March
Shareholders in ACP Capital (APL) voted unanimously to delist the company’s shares, effective 2 March. This follows the disposal of the company’s last remaining asset and the subsequent distribution to shareholders in February. Thus another closed-end fund bites the dust, this time an alternatives fund which specialised in asset-backed companies in Europe and the UK, including those with mezzanine financing. Like many in the CEF sector, the discount widened considerably in the last quarter of 2008 and it struggled to regain sufficient ground in a timely fashion.

German property company Develica Deutschland (DDE) is putting forward proposals to distribute cash to shareholders and cancel the fund’s listing. Shareholders will be asked to approve such proposals at the EGM on 25 March.

Foresight Group CI has been appointed as investment manager of Acuity Growth VCT (AQT2). Nicholas Ross has stepped down from the board as a result (he is on the board of Acuity VCT3 and Acuity Environmental VCT, both of which are still managed by Acuity Capital Management).

There’s a similar story at CMA Global Hedge (CMAE) this week, when shareholders voted to voluntarily wind up the company. This global fund of hedge funds has also struggled since September 2008 and the wind-up option was first floated back in August 2010. Gross assets currently stand at around GBP 35 million. The shares will be delisted on 24 March.

Fidelity China Special Situations’ C shares (FCSS) have been converted into ordinary shares, so the C-share listing has now been cancelled. The C-share issue raised an additional £166 million for the trust.

Gartmore Irish Growth (GIR) is holding an EGM on 22 March to put forward wind-up proposals. Shareholders will be offered the choice of taking cash or units in the Threadneedle Pan European Smaller Companies Fund. Run by Philip Dicken since November 2005, this £631 million fund invests across Europe and the UK; at 31 December 2010, it had just 2.8% in Ireland, though, compared with more than 80% in the Gartmore fund (at 30 September 2010). So for shareholders, it presents a very different opportunity set which may no longer suit their portfolios.

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