SENS: EPE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD – quarterly update as at 30 September 2018

QUARTERLY UPDATE AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2018

Ethos Capital is an investment holding company, registered and incorporated in Mauritius as a public company.  It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and offers shareholders long-term capital appreciation by making commitments and investments into Funds or Direct Investments that are managed by Ethos Private Equity (Pty) Limited (“Ethos”), providing the Company with exposure to a diversified portfolio of unlisted private equity type investments (“Portfolio Companies”).  “The Group” refers to the consolidated results of the Company and its deemed subsidiary.

Below is a voluntary financial update of the Company since the last announcement made in September 2018. 

NAV 

At 30 September 2018, the Ethos Capital Group’s underlying net asset value (“NAV”) (net of treasury shares) was R1.8 billion with total assets of R1.9 billion which resulted in an increase in the Group NAV per share to R11.05 (R11.00 at 30 June 2018).  The investment portfolio will be revalued as at 31 December 2018.

Invested capital 

Ethos Capital’s invested capital as at 30 September 2018 was R765 million, c. 40% of the 30 September 2018 total assets.  Post the quarter-end, a number of transactions were completed which increased the invested capital to R1,313 million or c. 69% of total assets.  In addition, two transactions have been signed but not yet closed which will result in the Company’s invested capital increasing to R1,547 million (c. 81% of total assets).   

Once complete, Ethos Capital will have exposure to seventeen Portfolio Companies that have representation across a diverse set of industries, sectors and vintages. 

Commitments

As noted above, Ethos Capital’s Investment Strategy is to make commitments into Funds managed by Ethos, through a combination of Primary, Direct and Secondary Investments. 

During October 2018, as previously announced, Ethos Capital participated in the first closings of Ethos Fund VII (R1.25 billion), Ethos Ai Fund I (R150 million) and Ethos Direct Investment Partnership (R100 million), thereby increasing its commitments to Ethos Funds to c. R3.2 billion.

The Company’s liquid resources at 30 September 2018, adjusted for the outflows from the above-mentioned transactions, are expected to be c. R370 million.  In addition, the Company has a four-year revolving credit facility that, once activated, will provide access to c.R600 million of additional resources for the Company.

Repurchase of shares 

The Ethos Capital Board is committed to a policy of enhancing long-term shareholder value.  The Company has repurchased a total of 9 million A Ordinary Shares which are currently held in treasury, representing 5.0% of the total unencumbered issued A Ordinary Shares.