Gresham House Energy Storage Fund launches a formal sale process; shares jump 10%
Victoria Shinder1 min readThe board of Gresham House Energy Storage Fund, one of the largest owners of battery storage capacity in the UK, has instructed its financial advisers to launch a formal sale process and invite offers for the entire issued ordinary share capital, Energy-Storage.news reported. That is 569,064,139 shares, a market capitalisation of nearly 600 million pounds. The fund's share price rose 10% on the news.
Chair John Leggate said the board took the decision after considering a wide range of feedback from shareholders and that it had not been taken lightly. He pointed to the fund's Growth Plan, continued earnings growth and a 15.8% rise in net asset value in the first six months of the year, and said the board's confidence in the plan had not changed. The board recognised, he said, that some shareholders want value delivered faster, and it will keep pursuing the Growth Plan while the sale process runs.
The fund trades on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker GRID. A sale would follow that of its peer Harmony Energy Income Trust last year.
What it means
The move is shareholder pressure made formal: the board says some investors would rather have value delivered now than wait for the growth plan. Whoever buys gets a large operating fleet in the UK market, and the price offered will be the clearest outside test yet of what those assets are worth.