Boussard & Gavaudan Holding Ltd (EUR): Interim Management
Statement for the Quarter ended 31 March 2024
Boussard & Gavaudan Holding
Limited A closed-ended investment company
incorporated with limited liability under the laws of Guernsey,
with registration number 45582.
Interim Management Statement
For the Quarter ended 29th
March 2024
I. Principal
Activities
Boussard & Gavaudan Holding Limited (“BGHL”
or “the Company”), a closed-ended investment company incorporated
under the laws of Guernsey, announces its interim management
statement for the period from 1 January to 29 March 2024 (“the
period”).
The Company is registered with the Dutch
Authority for Financial Markets and is listed on the NYSE Euronext
Amsterdam, and the London Stock Exchange.
During the period, BGHL has invested indirectly
in BG Master Fund ICAV (“BG Fund” or “the Fund”), a Europe-focused
multi-strategy hedge fund established in Ireland and authorised by
the Central Bank as a Qualified Investor Fund (QIF), through a
dedicated share class of the feeder fund, BG Umbrella Fund Plc. The
Fund aims primarily at arbitraging instruments with linear or
non-linear pay-offs on equities and credit markets. The overall
investment objective of the Fund is to provide investors with
consistent absolute returns, primarily through investing and
trading in financial instruments of companies incorporated in, or
whose principal operations are in, Europe.
In addition, a proportion of the net assets of
BGHL may be invested in other hedge funds and/or other financial
assets.
Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management
LLP (“BGIM” or “the Investment Manager”) is the Investment Manager
for both the Company and the Fund.
II. Highlights
|
|
29-Mar-24 |
31-Dec-23 |
Assets under management (€m) |
342 |
342 |
Market capitalisation (€m) |
320 |
313 |
Shares outstanding |
12,422,606 |
12,422,606 |
|
NAV per
Share |
Share
price* |
Discount to
NAV |
|
€
shares |
£
shares |
€
shares |
£
shares |
€
shares |
£
shares |
29-Mar-24 |
€ 27.55 |
£24.65 |
€ 25.80 |
£21.50 |
-6.36% |
-12.78% |
31-Dec-23 |
€ 27.55 |
£24.57 |
€ 25.20 |
£20.50 |
-8.52% |
-16.56% |
Performance |
0.02% |
0.32% |
2.38% |
4.88% |
|
|
*Amsterdam (AEX) market close for the Euro Share
and London (LSE) market close for the Sterling share
III. Performance
Global equity markets rallied during Q1 2024;
the Euro Stoxx 50® Total Return was up +12.8% in Europe, and in the
US the S&P500® Total Return was up +10.6%. In this risk-on
context the market implied volatility measure VStoxx® remained
stable and low slipping marginally from 13.6% to 13.4% while credit
markets tightened, with the iTraxx Crossover® (S38) moving from
246bps at year-end to 217bps at the end of March.
1. BG Fund
BG Fund (EUR B) contributed positively for the
quarter.
1.1. Volatility
strategies
Mandatory Convertible Bond
Arbitrage Mandatory convertible bonds contributed slightly
positively.
Convertible Bond Arbitrage
Convertible bond strategies detracted over this period, mainly
impacted by specific idiosyncratic risk positions which experienced
refinancing stress. The Investment Manager remains confident that
positive solutions will emerge for these positions soon. Apart from
these specific detractors, the fund experienced positive
contributions from positioning on volatility trades while carefully
selected credit positions also had a positive performance. The key
frustration was that European primary issuance continued to remain
at low levels. The Investment Manager hopes this is just a
temporary delay in the expected pipeline.
On the positive side, US convertible bonds had
an overall decent performance with a slow but steady rise in
valuations across the board. New issue activity was healthy, and
the anticipated pipeline has started to arrive in earnest. The fund
was selective and positioning cautiously as the large amount of
primary could lead to some cheapening in secondary markets.
Volatility Trading The period
remained challenging for volatility strategies as both realised and
implied volatility remained subdued in the continued bull market
environment. In this environment, there were few new trading
opportunities. Nevertheless, volatility trading succeeded in
contributing positively thanks to dispersion trades. During the
period, the Investment Manager made modest portfolio adjustments,
incrementally increasing positions and engaging in marginal trades
while remaining vigilant and staying alert to market shifts, ready
to take advantage of opportunities as they arose.
Warrant Trading Warrant
arbitrage contributed slightly positively.
1.2. Equity Strategies
Equity strategies ended the period almost flat.
On the positive side, the gains were spread across a wide range of
investments but aggregate performance was held back by an overall
relatively low level of corporate activity in Europe. In the
special situations book a number of expected and rumoured deals
have so far failed to materialise, or are taking longer than
expected to play out, leading to underperformance. This
notwithstanding, the interest rate and financing environment has
become more stable which should encourage the emergence of further
activity. Several new deals were announced during the quarter in
Europe and, despite these being relatively small, the investment
manager is expecting an increase in both the size and volume of
deals to come through.
1.3. Credit Strategies
Credit Long / Short Credit long
/ short contributed positively this period, driven primarily by
private credit positions.
Credit Special Situations
Credit special situations was the main detractor to the fund this
period, impacted primarily by a specific idiosyncratic position on
a French technology services company. Its bonds were extremely
volatile on thin volumes and sold off in reaction to news on
discussions surrounding a likely restructuring of the company's
balance sheet.
1.4. Trading
Trading was the main positive contributor to the
performance of the fund this period, in particular from thematic
discretionary trading and the systematic trend following
strategies.
2. Investments Other Than BG
Fund
The contribution of this investment was flat for
the period.
Rasa Resorts, S.A.P.I. de C.V.
(“Rasa”)
Rasa is a holding company structured as a
private equity fund in terms of fees and organisation and managed
by RSC Development and BK Partners. BGHL holds Rasa shares through
Campastros, S.L.U., a wholly-owned holding company in Spain. Rasa
is dedicated to investing in land, hotels and high-end resort
developments in Mexico. Rasa’s main asset is a majority interest in
ACTUR, a private company owning the land developing assets. ACTUR’s
other shareholders are Mexican public institutions.
In July 2020, Rasa made a cash tender offer to
buy back its own shares, for a price per share of US$0.12270. The
valuation of BGHL’s investment in Rasa shares was marked down on 31
August 2020, using the US$0.12270 per share price as the estimated
fair value of the Rasa shares. This price represents a circa 76%
discount to the latest published NAV per share.
IV. Outlook
Following the holding of the extraordinary
general meeting on 28 September 2023, the investment objective of
the Company changed such that the Company is now focused on
ensuring a realisation of the existing assets of the Company in an
orderly manner for investors that require it. In the meanwhile the
Investment Manager remains committed to manage funds on behalf of
all investors in the Company on an ongoing basis for as long as
required.
For further information contact:
Boussard & Gavaudan Investment
Management LLP
Emmanuel
Gavaudan (London) +44
(0)20 3751 5389
François-Xavier
Baud (Paris) +33
1 44 90 39 47
Disclaimer
The Company is established as a closed-ended
investment company domiciled in Guernsey. The Company has received
the necessary approval of the Guernsey Financial Services
Commission and the States of Guernsey Policy Council. The Company
is registered with the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets as
a collective investment scheme pursuant to article 2:73 in
conjunction with 2:66 of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act (Wet
op het financieel toezicht). The shares of the
Company (the "Shares") are listed on Euronext Amsterdam.
The Shares are also listed on the Official List of the UK
Listing Authority and admitted to trading on the London Stock
Exchange plc's main market for listed securities.
This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation
of any offer to buy any securities in the United States or in any
other jurisdiction. This announcement is not intended to and does
not constitute, or form part of, any offer or invitation to
purchase any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval
in any jurisdiction, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or
transfer of the securities referred to in this announcement in any
jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law.
Neither the Company nor BG Fund has been, and
neither will be, registered under the US Investment Company Act of
1940, as amended (the "Investment Company Act"). In addition the
securities referenced in this announcement have not been and will
not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended
(the "Securities Act"). Consequently any such securities may not be
offered, sold or otherwise transferred within the United States or
to, or for the account or benefit of, US persons except in
accordance with the Securities Act or an exemption therefrom and
under circumstances which will not require the issuer of such
securities to register under the Investment Company Act. No public
offering of any securities will be made in the United States.
You should always bear in mind that:
- All investment is subject to risk;
- Results in the past are no guarantee of future results;
- The investment performance of BGHL may go down as well as up.
You may not get back all of your original investment; and
- If you are in any doubt about the contents of this
communication or if you consider making an investment decision, you
are advised to seek expert financial advice.
This communication is for information purposes
only and the information contained in this communication should not
be relied upon as a substitute for financial or other professional
advice.
VC 01.05.15.01
- Interim management Information - Q1 2024
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