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Stephenson Harwood advises Liberum on Castelnau's £56.6m placing
Law firm Stephenson Harwood LLP has acted for Liberum Capital Limited (Liberum) in its role as sole financial adviser and bookrunner to Castelnau Group Limited (Castelnau) on a successful placing of shares, which raised £56.6 million.
This placing will fund Castelnau’s recommended takeover offer for Dignity plc (Dignity).
In addition to a cash offer, approximately £20 million by value of new Castelnau shares were issued to Dignity shareholders, who elected to roll their investment in Dignity into Castelnau. A further £25 million of new Castelnau shares were also issued to affiliates of Castelnau’s external manager, Phoenix Asset Management, in exchange for Dignity shares held by them.
Castelnau is a listed investment company that IPO’d onto the Specialist Fund Segment in October 2021. It targets a minimum absolute return of 20% per annum. Its strategy is to apply modern techniques to a portfolio of well-known traditional businesses to create sustainable long-term value.
The recommended cash offer for Dignity at 550 pence per Dignity share valued the equity of Dignity at £281 million and was declared unconditional on 19 April 2023. Castelnau was part of a bidding consortium that included Phoenix Asset Management and SPWOne Limited, the investment vehicle of entrepreneur Sir Peter Wood.
This transaction will significantly increase Castelnau's market cap and provide investors with exposure to Dignity as a private company.
The Stephenson Harwood investment funds team was led by partner Nick Horton, who was supported by managing associate Victoria Silver.
