Beringea News and Notes

Beringea is excited to announce it has sold ProVen VCTs portfolio company Tossed, the healthier eating group, to management with the support of private investment for an undisclosed sum.

Investment Director Karen McCormick commented: “We are delighted with the progress Tossed has made since our initial investment, and excited for Vincent and Neil, who have been fantastic managers, as the new investment will facilitate the next stage of growth. We congratulate all the team on their hard work. The ProVen funds have received a strong return on investment, and we look forward to seeing Tossed on every corner in future.”

Beringea invested in Tossed in April 2010. The Company operates six quirky and vibrant stores offering nutritionally balanced, ethically sourced food, including salads, smoothies and hot pots, among other dishes.  

Click here to read the official news release.

Beringea is thrilled to announce that the latest IPA Media Owner Survey has named its portfolio company InSkin Media as the top media company, receiving the highest rating in a survey of digital planners, strategists and buyers in media agencies and digital specialists. This is the first time InSkin Media has appeared in the survey.

According to IPA, 83.8 percent of the 265 survey respondents ‘agreed’ or ‘agreed strongly’ with the survey statement ‘My overall experience dealing with this supplier is a good one’.

The IPA Media Owner Survey is designed to highlight the levels of service media owners provide and outline where improvements can be made, with the aim of helping the growth of digital advertising, providing a voice for the industry and raising the digital standard in general. 

Hugo Drayton, InSkin Media’s CEO, commented,”InSkin Media is thrilled by this significant recognition from the media industry. As a young business, and on our debut appearance in the IPA Media Owners Survey, it is a huge accolade to be voted the winner in this prestigious, highly-competitive industry. This honour is testament to the whole ISM team: every day we strive harder – creatively, operationally and commercially – to deliver results for our publisher, agency and brand partners. This award acknowledges that consistent effort and teamwork.”

Congratulations to the team! Click here to read the official announcement.

Beringea and the Credit Suisse Customized Fund Investment Group (CFIG) are pleased to announce the launch of Michigan Growth Capital Partners II, L.P. (“MGCP II”), a $180 million fund dedicated to providing growth equity to Michigan companies. The new fund follows on the success of Michigan Growth Capital Partners (“MGCP”), L.P., launched in 2008 as part of the $300 million InvestMichigan! Program.

For more information on Michigan Growth Capital Partners II, the InvestMichigan! Program, and co-managers Beringea and CFIG, visit www.investmichiganfund.com.

Click here to read the official news release.

Beringea LLP is pleased to introduce a new £15m Ordinary Share Offer from ProVen Growth & Income VCT (“PGI VCT”).

The original Ordinary Share Offer from PGI VCT has the 2^nd highest return of all initial VCT Offers, with a return of over £2 per £1 invested¹. This includes total tax-free dividends of over £1.50 per £1 invested².

However, past performance is not a guide to future performance.

The Offer will enable investors to subscribe for shares in a mature fund with an established portfolio of 31 small and medium sized private companies. PGI VCT is managed by Beringea LLP, an experienced manager, with over 25 years experience of investing in smaller UK unquoted Companies, and which has managed VCTs since they were first launched in 1995. The Beringea group currently has over £300 million of funds under management.

Funds raised will be invested in a number of small and medium sized private companies which have the potential for rapid growth. As these companies often operate in specific high-growth sectors, such as digital media, their performance is generally much less dependent on the performance of the economy as a whole than larger, quoted companies.

For example, PGI VCT has recently invested in InSkin Media, an innovative digital advertising business which specialises in online video. InSkin’s advertising formats become part of the video viewing experience, offering the company’s clients superb brand exposure. Last year, InSkin won the Media Momentum Award as the fastest growing digital business in Europe in 2011.

VCT industry expert Martin Churchill, of Tax Efficient Review, said:

“PGI VCT’s historic performance has been excellent. The existing mature portfolio will provide investors with immediate access to a potential dividend stream. This is a highly rated generalist offer”.
Tax Efficient Review (rating 85/100)

Stuart Veale, Managing Director of Beringea, said: “The PGI VCT Offer combines the ability for investors to gain exposure to a portfolio of potentially high growth smaller companies with the attractive tax benefits available for investment in a VCT. It will not be suitable for everyone, however – potential investors should seek advice from an authorised investment adviser.”

The Offers for Subscription opened on 23 January 2013, and are expected to close on 5 April 2013, in respect of the 2012/13 tax year, and 31 May 2013 in respect of the 2013/14 tax year. The Offer Price will be based on the most recently announced NAV per share, with a minimum investment amount of £5,000.

Existing shareholders in one or more of the ProVen VCTs will benefit from a 2% discount to the Offer Price for all applications received by 1 March 2013, while new investors will receive a 1% discount.

PGI VCT has agreed to facilitate the payment of fees from clients to advisers. For further information, please see the Securities Note.

^1. Source: www.taxefficientreview.com

^2. Source: Beringea LLP

Beringea is pleased to announce the hire of  William Blake III as investment associate.

Blake will support the investment team in identifying and analyzing potential investments, financial modeling, industry research, working with and monitoring portfolio companies, deal execution and negotiation, and fundraising.

Blake was most recently an investment banking associate at P&M Corporate Finance.

Click here to read the official news release.

Beringea co-founder and senior managing director Charlie Rothstein sat down with retired professional basketball player Earl “The Twirl” Cureton to chat about the Detroit Pistons and his all time favorite player – Joe Dumars.

According to Charlie, Joe Dumars embodied two of the characteristics Detroit is known for – hard work and modesty.

Beringea has invested in Abe’s Market, the online destination for discovering and experiencing natural and organic products. The investment was part of Abe’s $5 million financing round. The company is the 28th new investment made by the InvestMichigan! Growth Capital Fund since its inception.

“Over the past decade, consumers have begun to understand the impact natural and organic products have on health, wellness and the environment. Abe’s is poised to capitalize on this rapid shift in mindset and is on track to become the leading online specialty natural products retailer,” said Jeff Bocan, managing director for Beringea. “The company’s extensive product offerings and helpful resources make the switch from conventional products to natural alternatives easy and enjoyable.”

Click here to read the official news release.

Beringea has invested $5 million in Skills Matter, Europe’s largest provider of open source and agile training and events.

Launched in 2003, Skills Matter helps their 35,000 strong developer community learn and share skills to write better software. The new funding will be used to provide even more opportunities for its community to collaborate with the world’s top technology experts through expert talks, meet-ups, training courses and hackathons. In addition, they will now be able to offer work and collaboration space. Recent support from companies like BlackBerry, SpringSource, Novoda and others will enable Skills Matter to open dedicated technology labs in its space.

Trevor Hope, Chief Investment Officer, Beringea LLP, manager of the Proven VCTs, said: “I am very proud of our investment in Skills Matter. Advanced software skills are and will continue to be key to ensure that the UK is globally competitive. Skills Matter’s approach to sharing skills, training and collaboration is at the heart of software innovation and opportunity. Wendy is an outstanding CEO and her commitment to developing Skills Matter has allowed her to grow a highly engaged community and strong relationships with leading technologists and innovative software companies around the world. With our help we are hoping to further establish Skills Matter as the place to be for software innovation in Europe.”

Click here to read the official news release.

Beringea has provided an undisclosed amount of equity funding to CognoLink, a leading primary research firm. CognoLink specialises in providing expert network services, facilitating consultations between its clients and industry specialists who can deliver vital insights to support key investment decisions. 

The investment will be used to accelerate the company’s international expansion and to further develop new streams of business, with a focus on delivering innovative primary research solutions to investors.

Commenting on the deal, Stuart Veale said  “The use of expert networks and primary research to support investment decisions only started in the 1990’s but has now become embedded in the research processes of asset managers and consultancy firms, with a total market size this year approaching $500 million. CognoLink has established itself as one of the leading players in the sector and is very well positioned to continue its exceptional rate of expansion, supported by this investment from Beringea.  I am looking forward to working with CognoLink’s management team during this exciting period”.

Click here to read the official news release.

Excellent track record of investment and tax-free dividends
ProVen VCT has an outstanding track record.  Its original Ordinary share issue is the best performing VCT offer of its launch year* and investors in the original offer have received a total return to date of nearly £1.65 for every £1 invested (prior to any tax relief obtained), including tax free dividends of £1.14 per £1 invested.  Past performance is not a guide to future performance, however.

VCT industry expert Martin Churchill, of Tax Efficient Review, said: “ProVen VCT’s historic performance has been excellent. The existing mature portfolio will provide investors with immediate access to a potential dividend stream. This is a highly rated generalist offer.”
Tax Efficient Review (rating 85/100)

An established portfolio creating the opportunity for early dividends
This Offer will enable investors to subscribe to a fund with an existing and mature portfolio of 28 VCT qualifying investments, which may provide investors with a potential early stream of dividends.  Beringea intends to sell a number of these investments over the next 2-3 years, in order to generate dividend payments for shareholders.  No guarantee is given or implied that the realisation of strategy will be achieved or about the future level of dividends.

Managed by a long established, award winning VCT manager
ProVen VCT is managed by Beringea, an experienced investment manager with over 25 years experience of investing into smaller UK unquoted companies, and which has managed VCTs since they were first launched in 1995.

The Offer details
The Offer for subscription opened on 19 November 2012, and is expected to close on 5 April 2013.  The Offer price will be calculated based on the latest net asset value, divided by 0.945 (to allow for issue costs of 5.5%), rounded up to the nearest tenth of a penny.  The minimum investment amount is £5,000.  Existing ProVen VCT shareholders will benefit from a 2% discount to the Offer price for all applications, while existing shareholders in all other ProVen VCTs will receive a 1% discount; the discount will be given in the form of additional shares.

1. *Source: www.taxefficientreview.com, VCT Performance Page 14 as at 31 October 2012, based on annual rate of return since launch.