Result of Placing and Total Voting Rights

RNS Number : 9322Q

Sequoia Economic Infra Inc Fd Ld

03 March 2021

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, JAPAN OR THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO CONTAIN INSIDE INFORMATION

3 March 2021

Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited ("SEQI" or the "Company")

Result of Placing and Total Voting Rights

Further to the announcement on 23 February 2021, the Board of Directors of SEQI, the specialist investor in economic infrastructure debt, announces that the Placing of new ordinary shares has raised £110m of gross proceeds. A total of 104,513,064 new ordinary shares will be issued at a price of 105.25 pence per share.

Application has been made for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to the premium listing segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange ("Admission"). It is expected that Admission will become effective and dealings in the new ordinary shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on 5 March 2021.

Following Admission, the number of ordinary shares that the Company has in issue will be 1,763,120,710. This amount includes shares issued under the Company's Scrip Dividend programme as well as shares issued to the Investment Adviser in lieu of its fees, both of which have been separately announced on 1 March 2021. The total number of voting rights of the Company will be 1,763,120,710 and this figure 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.

Robert Jennings, Chairman of Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund said:

"We are delighted with the support from our shareholders, particularly given the significant turbulence across global fixed income markets over the last week. The new proceeds will be used to repay drawings under our debt facilities, thereby allowing our Investment Adviser to re-draw on these facilities as it deploys selectively into our pipeline of investment opportunities."

Steve Cook, Head of Portfolio Management at Sequoia Investment Management Company said:

"We have closely monitored the investment portfolio since the COVID-19 pandemic induced a sharp downturn in markets generally last year and have been pleased with both the underlying performance of the economic infrastructure projects and with the material improvement in NAV. We believe the portfolio is well positioned for a potentially higher interest rate investment environment with 60 per cent. of the Company's loans being floating rate linked and very few long-dated fixed rate loans, which could allow the Company to secure higher returns in the long term."

Dealing codes

The ticker for the Company's ordinary shares is SEQI. The ISIN for the Company's ordinary shares is GG00BV54HY67 and the SEDOL is BV54HY6. 

The Placing is conditional, among other things, on Admission being effective. Any defined terms used in this announcement are as set out in the announcement on 23 February 2021.

The information contained in this announcement constitutes inside information. The person responsible for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Praxis Fund Services Limited. 

LEI: 2138006OW12FQHJ6PX91

For further information:
Sequoia Investment Management Company	[phone]
Steve Cook Dolf Kohnhorst Randall Sandstrom Greg Taylor
Jefferies International Limited	[phone]
Neil Winward Gaudi Le Roux
Tulchan Communications (Financial PR)	[phone]
Martin Pengelley Elizabeth Snow Laura Marshall
Praxis Fund Services Limited (Company Secretary)	[phone]
Matt Falla Katrina Rowe

About Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited

The Company is a Guernsey registered closed-ended investment company that seeks to provide investors with regular, sustained, long-term distributions and capital appreciation from a diversified portfolio of senior and subordinated economic infrastructure debt investments. The Company is advised by Sequoia Investment Management Company Limited.

Important Notices

This announcement is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy the New Ordinary Shares in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the Republic of South Africa, Japan, or in any other jurisdiction where such offer or sale would be unlawful.

This communication is not for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States of America. This communication is not an offer of securities for sale into the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, except pursuant to an applicable exemption from registration. No public offering of securities is being made in the United States.

The Company has not been and will not be registered under the US Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "Investment Company Act") and, as such, holders of the New Ordinary Shares will not be entitled to the benefits of the Investment Company Act.  No offer, sale, resale, pledge, delivery, distribution or transfer of the New Ordinary Shares may be made except under circumstances that will not result in the Company being required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.

This communication is only addressed to, and directed at, persons in member states of the European Economic Area who are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation ("Qualified Investors").  For the purposes of this provision, the expression "Prospectus Regulation" means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129. In the United Kingdom, this communication is being distributed only to, and is directed only at, "qualified investors" (as defined in the UK version of the Prospectus Regulation, which forms part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended from time to time)): (i) who have professional experience in matters relating to investments who fall within the definition of "investment professional" in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order"), or (ii) who are high net worth companies, unincorporated associations and partnerships and trustees of high value trusts as described in Article 49(2) of the Order, and (iii) other persons to whom it may otherwise lawfully be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons").  Any investment or investment activity to which this communication relates is available only to and will only be engaged in with such persons. This communication must not be acted on or relied on in any member state of the European Economic Area who are not Qualified Investors or in the United Kingdom by persons who are not relevant persons.

The merits or suitability of any securities must be independently determined by the recipient on the basis of its own investigation and evaluation of the proposed investment trust. Any such determination should involve, among other things, an assessment of the legal, tax, accounting, regulatory, financial, credit and other related aspects of the securities.

This announcement may not be used in making any investment decision.  This announcement does not contain sufficient information to support an investment decision and investors should ensure that they obtain all available relevant information before making any investment.  This announcement does not constitute and may not be construed as an offer to sell, or an invitation to purchase or otherwise acquire, investments of any description, nor as a recommendation regarding the possible offering or the provision of investment advice by any party. No information in this announcement should be construed as providing financial, investment or other professional advice and each prospective investor should consult its own legal, business, tax and other advisers in evaluating the investment opportunity. No reliance may be placed for any purposes whatsoever on this announcement or its completeness.

Nothing in this announcement constitutes investment advice and any recommendations that may be contained herein have not been based upon a consideration of the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any specific recipient.

The information and opinions contained in this announcement are provided as at the date of the document and are subject to change and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made in relation to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein and no responsibility, obligation or liability or duty (whether direct or indirect, in contract, tort or otherwise) is or will be accepted by the Company, the Investment Adviser, Jefferies or any of their affiliates or by any of their respective officers, employees or agents in relation to it. No reliance may be placed for any purpose whatsoever on the information or opinions contained in this announcement or on its completeness, accuracy or fairness. The document has not been approved by any competent regulatory or supervisory authority.

Potential investors should be aware that any investment in the Company is speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and could result in the loss of all or substantially all of their investment. Results can be positively or negatively affected by market conditions beyond the control of the Company or any other person. The returns set out in this document are targets only. There is no guarantee that any returns set out in this document can be achieved or can be continued if achieved, nor that the Company will make any distributions whatsoever. There may be other additional risks, uncertainties and factors that could cause the returns generated by the Company to be materially lower than the returns set out in this announcement. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance.

The information in this announcement may include forward-looking statements, which are based on the current expectations and projections about future events and in certain cases can be identified by the use of terms such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "anticipate", "project", "estimate", "intend", "continue", "target", "believe" (or the negatives thereon) or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements, as well as those included in any related materials, are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about the Company, including, among other things, the development of its business, trends in its operating industry, and future capital expenditures and acquisitions.  In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the events in the forward-looking statements may not occur.

Each of the Company, the Investment Adviser, Jefferies and their affiliates and their respective officers, employees and agents expressly disclaim any and all liability which may be based on this announcement and any errors therein or omissions therefrom.

No representation or warranty is given to the achievement or reasonableness of future projections, management targets, estimates, prospects or returns, if any.  Any views contained herein are based on financial, economic, market and other conditions prevailing as at the date of this announcement.  The information contained in this announcement will not be updated.

This announcement does not constitute or form part of, and should not be construed as, any offer or invitation or inducement for sale, transfer or subscription of, or any solicitation of any offer or invitation to buy or subscribe for or to underwrite, any share in the Company or to engage in investment activity (as defined by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) in any jurisdiction nor shall it, or any part of it, or the fact of its distribution form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract or investment decision whatsoever, in any jurisdiction.  This announcement does not constitute a recommendation regarding any securities.

Prospective investors should take note that the Company's Ordinary Shares may not be acquired by: (i) investors using assets of: (A) an "employee benefit plan" as defined in Section 3(3) of US Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended ("ERISA") that is subject to Title I of ERISA; (B) a "plan" as defined in Section 4975 of the US Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "US Tax Code"), including an individual retirement account or other arrangement that is subject to Section 4975 of the US Tax Code; or (C) an entity which is deemed to hold the assets of any of the foregoing types of plans, accounts or arrangements that is subject to Title I of ERISA or Section 4975 of the US Tax Code; or (ii) a governmental, church, non-US or other employee benefit plan that is subject to any federal, state, local or non-US law that is substantially similar to the provisions of Title I of ERISA or Section 4975 of the US Tax Code.

Jefferies is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority. Jefferies is acting for the Company and no one else in connection with the Placing, and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of Jefferies or for affording advice in relation to any transaction or arrangement referred to in this announcement. This announcement does not constitute any form of financial opinion or recommendation on the part of Jefferies or any of its affiliates and is not intended to be an offer, or the solicitation of any offer, to buy or sell any securities. Regulated services with respect to EU27 countries and EU27 investors shall be undertaken by such of Jefferies International Limited's affiliates as Jefferies acting in good faith thinks fit and references to Jefferies International Limited shall be read as references to such affiliate(s).

Jefferies is entitled, at its discretion and out of its own resources, at any time to rebate to third parties (including the Investment Adviser) part or all of its fees relating to the Placing.

In accordance with the UK version of the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 which forms part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended from time to time), the Key Information Document relating to the Company is available to investors at www.seqifund.com.

 

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