- A dismal trend of the last year continues into 2023
- Will the recent market recovery help future efforts?
The Conviction Life Sciences investment trust has ditched its plans for an initial public offering (IPO), with the board blaming “current market uncertainty”.
The trust had sought to raise £100mn, with fund manager Andrew Craig wanting to invest in undervalued life sciences companies in the UK, Europe and Australia. “We’re teetering on the brink of an explosion in value creation, just because of the exponential nature of the science," he told Investors' Chronicle late last year.
But a brief update said the IPO plans had been scrapped due to challenging market conditions - despite an "encouraging" level of interest in the launch.
The latest news continues a dismal trend of the last year, with not a single investment trust IPO having succeeded in 2022 and secondary fundraising well down from the previous year’s levels. Trust fundraising efforts tend to be especially reliant on investor sentiment.
Another upcoming trust IPO announced in 2022, of the AT85 Global Mid-Market Infrastructure trust, is still on the cards. The trust published its prospectus in January and will look to raise £300mn, with the offer expected to close on 22 February. Uncertainty aside, the very recent recovery in markets could bode well for future fundraising efforts.
