Proposed Change of Investment Adviser

RNS Number : 1458B

John Laing Environmental Assets Grp

05 June 2019

 

Important information

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information for the purposes of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR").  Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory News Service, this inside information shall be considered to have been disclosed to the public for the purposes of MAR.

5 June 2019

JOHN LAING ENVIRONMENTAL ASSETS GROUP LIMITED

Proposed Change of Investment Adviser from John Laing Capital Management Limited to Foresight Group

The Board of John Laing Environmental Assets Group Limited ("JLEN" or the "Company"), the listed environmental infrastructure fund, announces the change of investment adviser to the Company from John Laing Capital Management ("JLCM") to Foresight Group CI Limited ("Foresight"), which is expected to be effective from 1 July 2019.

Under the terms of the agreement between John Laing Group plc ("John Laing") and Foresight, JLCM's investment advisory business relating to JLEN will be sold to Foresight. The team at JLCM, which has provided investment advisory services to JLEN since JLEN's IPO in 2014, will be transferred to Foresight following completion of a TUPE process with affected employees, subject to regulatory notification. It will continue to advise the Company, supported by the wider resources of Foresight. Under the terms of the sale, the current investment advisory agreement will be novated, restated and amended on the effective date of the transfer (the "New Investment Advisory Agreement"). The material terms, fees and provisions of the New Investment Advisory Agreement are the same as the existing investment advisory agreement with JLCM.    

Foresight is a leading independent infrastructure and private equity investment manager which has been managing investment funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients for more than 30 years.

Upon completion of the transaction, Foresight will have £4 billion of assets under management across a number of institutional and UK retail funds. It is a leading renewables infrastructure investor and has a management team numbering over 90 professionals in five international offices. After the transaction, it will have over £3 billion of energy infrastructure assets under management and will be manager of 170 renewable generation assets globally, with a total generating capacity of close to 2GW. The Board of JLEN believes Foresight represents a highly synergistic fit for the fund as it focuses on growing its portfolio of environmental infrastructure assets.

Foresight is a Guernsey registered company, incorporated under Guernsey law and regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. Foresight has appointed Foresight Group LLP, an English law incorporated limited liability partnership that is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as sub-adviser to provide investment advice to Foresight in respect of JLEN.

The first offer agreement that the Company has with John Laing Limited that requires John Laing Limited to give the Company notice of assets that it wishes to dispose of and that falls within the Company's investment policy (the "First Offer Agreement") will continue following the transfer of the business to Foresight.  The First Offer Agreement will be amended from the effective date of the transfer to contemplate the change in investment adviser to Foresight, and to include certain additional rights of termination on a change of control of Foresight or the Company.

The Board expects to put forward a resolution to shareholders to change the name of the Company, so that it does not include "John Laing", in due course. 

Richard Morse, Chairman of JLEN, said:

"We hold Foresight Group in high regard as a successful and experienced funds management platform with a track record of investment in environmental infrastructure asset classes. We look forward to working with them as our investment advisory team is transferred to them from John Laing and as we continue to seek to enhance and grow our portfolio of environmental assets in the interests of shareholders.

"We wish to express our thanks to John Laing for its key role in establishing JLEN and for facilitating this change of investment adviser. We are pleased that the First Offer Agreement is to continue"

Chris Tanner and Chris Holmes, co-lead Advisers to JLEN, said:

"We are delighted that our team will be joining Foresight Group and we look forward to benefitting from its broad experience and geographical reach across a wide range of environmental sectors."

**ENDS**

For further information, please contact:

John Laing Capital Management Limited Chris Tanner Chris Holmes	[phone]
Winterflood Investment Trusts  Neil Langford Chris Mills	[phone]
Newgate Communications Elisabeth Cowell Ian Silvera	[phone]
Praxis Fund Services Matt Falla	[phone]

About JLEN

JLEN's investment policy is to invest in environmental infrastructure projects that have the benefit of long-term, predictable, wholly or partially inflation-linked cash flows supported by long-term contracts or stable regulatory frameworks.

Environmental Infrastructure is defined by the Company as infrastructure projects that utilise natural or waste resources or support more environmentally-friendly approaches to economic activity. This could involve the generation of renewable energy (including solar, wind, hydropower and biomass technologies), the supply and treatment of water, the treatment and processing of waste, and projects that promote energy efficiency.

JLEN's aim is to provide investors with an annual dividend that is sustainable and increases in line with inflation. The target dividend for the year to 31 March 2020 is 6.66 pence per share. The dividend is payable quarterly.

Further details of the Company can be found on its website www.jlen.com

LEI: 213800JWJN54TFBMBI68

 

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