- Net asset value falls 8.2 per cent in November
- Share price rises 4 per cent as 10p dividend announced
Crystal Amber Fund (CRS), the activist investment fund, said it will not make investments in any new companies after a continuation vote at its annual general meeting last month failed to hit the 75 per cent threshold required for it to continue.
The fund said its board believed it was in the interest of shareholders for it to maximise capital by disposing of the shares, “including trade sales of the fund's strategic holdings, where appropriate”. It intends to sell its holdings within two years.
Crystal Amber has been in business since 2008 and has taken concentrated stakes in companies through which it seeks changes to improve shareholder value. It owns 28.9 per cent of shares in Hurricane Energy (HUR) (pictured), a 20.5 per cent stake in Equals Group (EQLS), 18.2 per cent of Allied Minds (ALM) and substantial holdings in other businesses including money printer De La Rue (DLAR) and Sutton Harbour (SUH). Its five largest holdings make up 89 per cent of the fund's assets.
In June this year New York-based Saba Capital, which acquired a 26.2 per cent share in the fund, said it would vote against its continuation. In total, shareholders with 49.4 per cent of voting rights sided against a resolution seeking Crystal Amber's continuation last month.
At the time of that vote, Crystal Amber Fund said Saba Capital and another US hedge fund had shorted shares in De La Rue and Allied Minds, so had “insulated themselves against the negative impact of an accelerated monetisation of assets”.
The fund’s net asset value fell to 142.7p per share last month, from 155.8p at the end of October. Its share price rose 4 per cent to 110p after it announced plans to pay an interim dividend of 10p per share.
