Results of Placing

RNS Number : 7821Z

Axiom European Financial Debt Fd Ld

19 December 2017

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, TO U.S. PERSONS OR IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION.

This announcement is an advertisement and not a prospectus. Investors should not purchase or subscribe for any shares referred to in this announcement except on the basis of information contained in the prospectus published by Axiom European Financial Debt Fund Limited (the "Company") on 8 May 2017 (the "Prospectus") in connection with the creation of a placing programme (the "Placing Programme") in respect of new ordinary shares of no par value in the capital of the Company ("Shares"). This announcement does not constitute and may not be construed as an offer to sell or an invitation to purchase investments of any description, or as a recommendation or the provision of investment advice by any party. No information set out in this announcement or referred to in other written or oral form (other than the Prospectus) is intended to form the basis of any contract for sale, investment decision or any decision to purchase shares in the Company.

19 December 2017

Axiom European Financial Debt Fund Limited

Results of Placing

The Board of Axiom European Financial Debt Fund Limited is pleased to announce that the Company has raised gross proceeds of approximately £16.0 million pursuant to a placing of 15,068,587 new Shares under the existing Placing Programme (the "Placing").

The Company received applications for 15,068,587 Shares.  The placing price of the new Shares is 106.11 pence per Share, representing a 1.6% premium to the latest published estimated cum income NAV per Share of 104.44 pence announced on 19 December 2017.

The new Shares will, when issued, be credited as fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Shares. Application has been made for the new Shares to be admitted to trading on the Specialist Fund Segment of the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities ("Admission").  It is expected that Admission will become effective and dealings in the new Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on 21 December 2017.

Following Admission, the total number of Shares in issue will be 75,999,351 and the total number of voting rights in the Company will be 75,999,351.  There are no shares held in treasury. The above figure of 75,999,351 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

The Investment Manager has met with a number of existing Shareholders and potential new investors over the last few weeks and additional investor meetings are scheduled to take place in early 2018.  For those investors who were not able to participate in this Placing, the Company expects to undertake a further placing early in the first quarter of 2018 and will provide further details in due course.

The Investment Manager sees significant investment opportunities in the market over the coming months deriving from improving fundamentals in the financial sector, combined with the acceleration of the Basel 3 transition period. The Company is seeking to deploy capital into the subordinated debt market to benefit from the positive credit actions by rating agencies, which should therefore support further spread compression. The Company will focus more specifically on the estimated €165bn legacy instruments universe, which currently provides (in the Investment Manager's view) the most attractive risk reward profile in the subordinated debt market. As the Basel 3 transition period enters its last phase, corporate actions such as tenders and calls should accelerate, hence supporting valuations. With year-to-date returns in excess of 14%, the Company sees this period as a very attractive window of opportunity to achieve its 10% long term target returns.   

Other information

Terms used in this announcement shall, unless the context otherwise requires, bear the meanings given to them in the Prospectus which can be found on the Company's website at http://axiom-ai.com/web/en/axiom-european-financial-debt-fund-limited-2/.  

References in the Prospectus to Liberum should instead be read (where applicable) to refer to Winterflood Securities Limited ("Winterflood"), the sole corporate broker and financial adviser to the Company, and sole bookrunner in relation to the Placing.

For further information please contact:

Axiom Alternative Investments SARL David Benamou, Managing Partner Jerome Legras, Managing Partner	[phone]
Winterflood Securities Limited Andrew Marshall Joe Winkley Neil Morgan	[phone]
MHP Communications Reg Hoare Giles Robinson Rachel Cohen	[phone]

Important Information

This announcement is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States of America (including its territories and possessions, any state of the United States of America and the District of Columbia) (the "United States"), Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa. This announcement does not constitute, or form part of, an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase, any securities in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa.  The securities of the Company have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") or the US Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended and may not be offered or sold directly or indirectly in or into the United States or to or for the account or benefit of any U.S. Person (within the meaning of Regulation S under the Securities Act). The securities referred to herein have not been registered under the applicable securities laws of Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa and, subject to certain exceptions, may not be offered or sold within Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa or to any national, resident or citizen of Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa.

This announcement has been issued by and is the sole responsibility of the Company.

No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by, Winterflood or by any of its affiliates or agents as to or in relation to the accuracy or completeness of this announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.

Winterflood, which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting as sole financial adviser to the Company and bookrunner and is acting for no-one else in connection with the Placing and the contents of this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of Winterflood or for providing advice in connection with the Placing and the contents of this announcement or any other matter referred to herein.

This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "estimates", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will" or "should" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. All forward-looking statements address matters that involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement reflect the Directors' current views with respect to future events and are subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the Company's operations, results of operations and growth strategy. Prospective investors should specifically consider the factors identified in this announcement and the Prospectus which could cause actual results to differ before making an investment decision. These forward looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Subject to its legal and regulatory requirements, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect changes in expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based, unless required to do so by law or any appropriate regulatory authority, including FSMA, the London Stock Exchange, the GFSC, the RCIS Rules, the Prospectus Rules, MAR and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

This announcement does not constitute an invitation to engage in investment activity.

The value of investments may go down as well as up, and all of an investment in the Company would be at risk. Past performance is not a guide to future performance and the information in this announcement or any documents relating to the Placing Programme cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance. Persons needing advice should contact a professional adviser.

 

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