(WPCT) Woodford Patient Capital Trust

Woodford investors miss out on millions after Kymab sale
By Loukia Gyftopoulou 12 Jan, 2021
14Comments



Neil Woodford’s former Equity Income fund has lost out on millions of pounds after administrator Link Fund Solutions sold its holding in unlisted antibody maker Kymab, last August.

The Cambridge-based firm was acquired by French pharma giant Sanofi on Monday, in a deal worth as much as $1.45bn (£1.08bn). Under the terms of the transaction, Sanofi will pay $1.1bn upfront and up to $350m more, depending on certain targets being met.

The Schroder UK Public Private, formerly the Woodford Patient Capital trust, had held on to its stake in Kymab, and the trust’s shares jumped 7.4% yesterday morning on the acquisition news. The investment company told investors it expected to receive a £65m windfall from the deal.

Stock market filings from August show that Link sold a stake of around 2% in Kymab to global life sciences company Malin Corporation, which was an existing big shareholder in Kymab.

At the time, Malin said the 2% stake purchased from Link took its entire holding in Kymab to 10%, which was then valued at around €35m (£31.5m), according to the announcement.

This means Link sold the holding for around €7m.

The $1.45bn Sanofi deal on Monday valued that stake at $28m or €23m, more than three times the price at which Link offloaded it in the summer.

The news will deal another blow to investors trapped in the failed LF Equity Income fund, who may have to wait several more months for a final payout as Link oversees the sale of the remaining assets in the mandate.

Last year, Link came under fire after it sold 18 quoted and unquoted healthcare stocks to US investor Acacia Research in a quick cut-price deal that wiped 20% off the value of fund.

Acacia flipped the portfolio soon after, in some cases within hours of acquiring the holdings, bagging a profit of more than £150m.

Meanwhile, investors received a £98m payout from the fund on 11 December after Link had completed the deal. This brought the total distributed to investors since Woodford was sacked from the fund last year to £2.5bn, and left around £191m of stocks still to offload.

http://citywire.co.uk/funds-insider...iss-out-on-millions-after-kymab-sale/a1449073

 

Investors urged to join Woodford legal claim
A legal claim on behalf of Woodford investors has become the first to reach funding and claimant cost insurance agreements, giving those affected “a much better chance of recovering significant losses”.
The claim, led by legal firm Leigh Day and endorsed by investor rights group ShareSoc, will argue that Link Fund Solutions breached Financial Conduct Authority rules by allowing the then Woodford Equity Income fund to hold exces- sive levels of illiquid or difficult-to- sell investments, causing investors significant losses.
The Woodford fund suspended trading in June 2019, never to open again, and is yet to entirely liquidate all of its assets in a bid to return any cash available to investors.

ShareSoc is encouraging Woodford Equity Income investors to join the legal claim, adding that they could get back “70 per cent of their losses” if the claim were successful.

DB
Investors Chronicle 12/02/2021

 

Moneyweek 05/02/2021

 

Evening Standard 15/02/2021

 

Neil Woodford needs permission to set up new firm, says FCA
City regulator still investigating collapse of fund manager’s previous business

The City watchdog has said that the one-time star investment manager Neil Woodford, whose funds were shut down in 2019, still faces the outcome of a regulatory investigation over the collapse and will need authorisation before his plan to return to the investment management business.

In a highly unusual step, issuing a public statement about an individual’s business plans, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Woodford’s comeback attempt was subject to securing its permission.

Mark Steward, the FCA’s director of enforcement and market oversight, said WCM Partners – the new investment business announced by Woodford over the weekend in a Sunday newspaper interview – would need to win permissionbefore commencing a regulated activity in the UK. Steward also said the watchdog would consider whether Woodford is a fit person to run a new investment company.

“In taking any decision on whether to authorise a firm, we consider whether it is ready, willing and organised to comply, on a continuing basis, with our requirements and standards. That includes, for example, the sustainability of the firm’s business model and the fitness of its management,” he said.

Woodford, once one of the biggest names in British finance before his previous fund lost retail customers thousands of pounds and was forced to close, said on Sunday he planned to open a new firm based in Jersey and Buckinghamshire.

The FCA said it was also in contact with the Jersey Financial Services Commission, the island’s regulator, and that they would share any information on applications.

Unlike his scandal-tainted Woodford Equity Income Fund, which is subject to an investigation from the FCA, the former star stock picker said the new business would focus on professional investors rather than retail clients.

http://www.theguardian.com/business...-needs-permission-to-set-up-new-firm-says-fca

 

I assume (if he's given permission) that he'll stick to his favoured pharma sector. I wonder if he'll rebuy some of the companies which he used to own? He may struggle to attract investors though.

 

Financial Times 01/03/2021

 

Evening Standard 30/03/2021

 

This blog gives you the latest topical news plus some informal comments on them from ShareSoc’s directors and other contributors. These are the personal comments of the authors and not necessarily the considered views of ShareSoc. The writers may hold shares in the companies mentioned. You can add your own comments on the blog posts, but note that ShareSoc reserves the right to remove or edit comments where they are inappropriate or defamatory.


https://www.investorschronicle.co.u...legal-options-for-trapped-woodford-investors/


Cliff Weight, Director, ShareSoc
https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/collective-investments/comparison-of-woodford-claims/