Goldman Sachs-backed Petershill to quit London stock market after poor run

An investment house backed by Goldman Sachs plans to delist from the London Stock Exchange after a disappointing four years for investors.

Petershill Partners, a private equity vehicle that buys stakes in fund managers, told investors on Thursday that ‘strategic initiatives’ to boost shareholder returns have not had the desired impact. 

The group says its share price was not at a level that ‘appropriately reflected the quality and underlying value of the company’s assets’.

It now plans to return capital to shareholders and delist from the London market.

Petershil, which is majority owned by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, listed on the LSE in September 2021, targeting a $5billion valuation with a $750million fundraise.

But its shares were down by around a third since listed as of last week and have never exceeded their IPO price.

Pestershill shares fell by a third in the four years since their London IPO 

Higher interest rates have made debt more expensive and raising money more difficult, weighing on the appeal of private equity strategies.

Threats of a UK tax raid on the private equity sector have not helped.

Petershill said: ‘Having evaluated the company’s strategic options, the Board has concluded that the company should proceed with a delisting and that free float shareholders should be provided with the means to realise their investment for cash at a valuation that appropriately reflects the company’s attributes.’

If investors back the move at a court meeting and general meeting set for 3 November, they will receive $4.15 per share in cash – a 35 per cent premium on Wednesday’s closing price of £2.31. It means the group will return more than $900million to shareholders as part of the exit.

Petershill Partners shares soared 33.2 per cent to 307.7p in response to the announcement.

Steve Clayton, head of equity funds at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘Petershill was always a strange beast, providing capital to private asset managers in return for stakes in their businesses.

‘The market never really got its head around how it all worked and what it was actually worth. 

‘Now the original backers of the group, who still own the large majority, have decided enough is enough and rather than sit watching the group languish at a hefty discount to book value, they are offering to buy out the minority investors at a premium to the market price, but still at a discount to the book value.’

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