TGI Friday: Private equity company reports record returns
The last day of the working week is, no doubt, always a cause of celebration for the owner of TGI Fridays.
But this Friday is an extra special one for Electra Private Equity, which also holds investments in the Original Bowling Company, Photobox Group and holiday parks operator Parkdean Resorts.
Epiris, the manager of Electra, announced that the private equity company recorded a total investment return of £751m, the largest return in its history, in the year to 30 September.
Read more: Electra Private Equity shares up as it announces investment shake-up plans
Electra Private Equity was involved in 27 transactions during the year, and its largest gains came from Parkdean Resorts (£188m), B2B information services group Axio (£130m) and Hollywood Bowl (£94m), which floated on the London Stock Exchange in September.
Shares in the company were up two per cent to 4,672p on Friday morning.
[stockChart code="ELTA" date="2016-12-09 10:27"]
The company is currently in the midst of a major shake-up under which it will move from being a listed investment trust to taking on a more traditional publicly traded corporate structure.
The move, which Electra said will add "significant value" for shareholders, comes after rebel shareholder Edward Bramson took control of the company in May as interim chief executive. He had previously battled his way on to the board.
Read more: Bramson makes his presence felt at Electra
“It has been an extraordinary year in many respects – we’ve been involved in M&A transactions with a combined value of £3.2bn, we’ve delivered record levels of total investment return and realisations (£751m and £903m respectively) and of course the corporate changes,” said Alex Fortescue, managing partner of Epiris.
“Investment performance has been driven by the success of our approach of buying attractive businesses well and then transforming them through M&A and strategic and operational focus and change.”