Fair Oaks Fund raises $40m in equity issue
FAIR Oaks Income Fund, a UK closed-ended investment company, yesterday raised $39.7m (£25.8m) through the issue of 40m new ordinary shares following strong investor demand.
The shares are scheduled to be admitted on 19 February and the Fair Oaks board will apply to the London Stock Exchange for the new shares to be traded on the Specialist Fund Market. Following the placing, the company’s issued share capital will increase to 161,898,362 ordinary shares.
The company said the funds would be used to “take advantage of a strong pipeline of investment opportunities”.
The news comes a week after the board announced the proposed issue of equity on 10 February. The company also announced last week that it had secured a new investor commitment worth $21m, but has declined to identify the investor.
Commenting on the announcement, co-founder of Fair Oaks Capital Miguel Ramos Fuentenebro said: “We are delighted by the level of interest from new and existing investors, which has meant that the company has raised significantly more equity in addition to the new investor commitment of $21m announced last week. Though not a year old, the company’s differentiated approach to investing and strong dividend have attracted a good level of demand from investors. Also, the pipeline of investment opportunities with an attractive risk-return profile remains strong,” said Ramos Fuentenebro.
The Guernsey-based Fair Oaks invests in collateralised loan obligations and targets a return of around seven per cent.
The share issue is being led by he company’s broker, Numis.