SVG set for boost from a £50m share buyback
PRIVATE equity investor SVG Capital said asset values recovered some lost ground in the final quarter of 2011, as the company launched a £50m tender offer to buy back shares yesterday.
Private equity firms are under pressure as tough trading conditions and volatile stock markets, against which they benchmark their investments, weigh on their privately-owned firms.
SVG said net asset value was 337.1p at the end of December compared with 319.4p at the end of the third quarter, and up 12.8 per cent for the year. After a large rise in the first half, asset valuations had slumped some 15 per cent in the quarter to October.
SVG is seen as a proxy for major European buyouts house Permira, the owner of Hugo Boss, because its investments in Permira account for nearly 80 per cent of its value.
SVG priced a £50m tender to buy shares at a 10 per cent discount to end of year net asset value and plans to return up to £170m to shareholders.