Prospectus • Sep 8, 2020
Prospectus
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Offer for Subscription
8 September 2020
THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. IF YOU ARE IN ANY DOUBT ABOUT WHAT ACTION YOU SHOULD TAKE, YOU ARE RECOMMENDED TO SEEK YOUR OWN FINANCIAL ADVICE IMMEDIATELY FROM YOUR STOCKBROKER, BANK MANAGER, SOLICITOR, ACCOUNTANT OR OTHER INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL ADVISER AUTHORISED UNDER THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 ("FSMA").
This document constitutes a prospectus dated 8 September 2020 (the "Prospectus") issued by Calculus VCT plc (the "Company"), prepared in accordance with the Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (the "Prospectus Regulation") and the Prospectus Regulation Rules made under FSMA. This Prospectus has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") as competent authority under the Prospectus Regulation. The FCA only approves this Prospectus as meeting the standards of completeness, comprehensibility and consistency imposed by the Prospectus Regulation. Such approval should not be considered an endorsement of the Company or of the quality of the securities that are the subject of this Prospectus and investors should make their own assessment as to the suitability of investing in the securities. The Company and the Directors (whose names are set out on page 74) accept responsibility for the information contained in this prospectus. To the best of the knowledge of the Company and the Directors the information contained in the Prospectus is in accordance with the facts and makes no omission likely to affect its import. The Prospectus has been drawn up as part of a simplified prospectus in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129.
(Registered in England and Wales under company number 07142153)
In connection with the Offer, Beaumont Cornish Limited (the "Sponsor") is acting for the Company and for no-one else and will not (subject to the responsibilities and liabilities imposed by FSMA or the regulatory regime established thereunder) be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to customers of the Sponsor nor for providing advice in relation to the Offer. The Sponsor is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA.
Calculus Capital Limited ("Calculus Capital") is the Company's investment manager in respect of its venture capital portfolio. Calculus Capital will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for the provision of protections afforded to customers of Calculus Capital nor for providing advice in relation to the Offer. Calculus Capital is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA.
Application will be made to the FCA for the Offer Shares to be issued pursuant to the Prospectus, to be listed on the premium segment of the Official List and will be made to the London Stock Exchange for such Offer Shares to be admitted to trading on its main market for listed securities. It is expected that admission will become effective and that trading in the Offer Shares will commence three Business Days following their allotment.
Copies of this Prospectus are (and any supplementary prospectus published by the Company will be) available free of charge from the offices of the Company's manager, Calculus Capital, at 104 Park Street, London, W1K 6NF.
YOUR ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO THE RISK FACTORS ON PAGES 11 to 13.
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Summary | 4 |
| Risk Factors | 11 |
| Expected Offer Timetable, Statistics and Costs | 14 |
| Definitions | 15 |
| Part 1: Offer for Subscription | 17 |
| Part 2: Investment Portfolio of the Company | 31 |
| Part 3: Financial Information on the Company | 38 |
| Part 4: Memorandum and Articles of Association | 40 |
| Part 5: Taxation | 49 |
| Part 6: Additional Information | 53 |
| Part 7: Terms and Conditions of Application under the Offer | 62 |
| Part 8: Dividend Reinvestment Scheme | 66 |
| Corporate Information | 73 |
This summary forms part of a prospectus dated 8 September 2020 (the "Prospectus") issued by Calculus VCT plc (the "Company" or the "Issuer") and which has been approved, on that date, by the Financial Conduct Authority (the "FCA"), the competent authority for the United Kingdom under Part IV of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
The Prospectus describes a public offer by the Company to raise up to £10 million (with an over-allotment facility for up to a further £5 million). The securities being offered pursuant to the Offer are Ordinary Shares of 1 penny each ("Offer Shares") (ISIN: GB00BYQPF348).
The FCA may be contacted at: Financial Conduct Authority 12 Endeavour Square ondon E20 1JN
The Issuer's contact details are:
| Address | Website | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 104 Park Street | [email protected] | www.calculuscapital.com | 020 7493 4940 |
| London W1K 6NF |
Warning: This summary should be read as an introduction to the Prospectus. Any decision to invest in the securities described herein should be based on a consideration of the Prospectus as a whole by the Investor. Investors could lose all or part of the invested capital. Where a claim relating to the information contained in a prospectus is brought before a court, the plaintiff investor might, under national law, have to bear the costs of translating the prospectus before the legal proceedings are initiated. Civil liability attaches only to those persons who have tabled the Summary including any translation thereof, but only if the Summary is misleading, inaccurate or inconsistent when read together with the other parts of the Prospectus or where it does not provide, when read together with other parts of the Prospectus, key information in order to aid investors when considering whether to invest in the Offer Shares.
The issuer of the securities which are the subject of this Prospectus is Calculus VCT plc (the "Company").
The Company is a public limited liability company which is registered in England and Wales with registered number 07142153. The Company's Legal Entity Identifier is: 2138005SMDWLMMNPVA90. The Company is approved by HMRC as a venture capital trust (VCT) in accordance with the VCT Rules. It is intended that the business of the Company be carried on so as to maintain its VCT status.
The Company has no parent company and is owned by individuals, none of whom owns more than 3% of its ordinary share capital. The Company has no subsidiaries. The Company has four non-executive directors – Jan Ward (Chairman), Janine Nicholls, Claire Olsen and John Glencross.
The Company's auditors are BDO LLP of 55 Baker Street, London W1U 7EU.
Certain key historical information of the Company is set out below:
| Audited year end to 29 February 2020 |
Audited year end to 28 February 2019 |
Audited year end to 28 February 2018 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Net Assets | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 |
| Ordinary Share Fund | 17,453 | 13,971 | 10,130 |
| original ordinary share fund: | - | - | - |
| C Share Fund: | - | - | - |
| D Share Fund: | - | - | - |
| Total | 17,453 | 13,971 | 10,130 |
| Total return before tax | |||
| Ordinary Share Fund: | (560) | (1,027) | (273) |
| original ordinary Share Fund | - | - | - |
| C Share Fund: | - | - | - |
| D Share Fund: | - | - | - |
| Total | (560) | (1,027) | (273) |
| Net asset value per Share | |||
| Ordinary Share Fund: | 70.2p | 75.8p | 87.0p |
| original ordinary Share Fund: | - | - | - |
| C Share Fund: | - | - | - |
| D Share Fund: | - | - | - |
| Dividends paid per Share | |||
| Ordinary Share Fund: | 3.40p | 4.00p | 4.25p |
| original ordinary Share Fund: | - | - | 7.0p |
| C Share Fund: | - | - | 3.0p |
| D Share Fund: | - | - | - |
| Ordinary Share Target Dividend Yield |
4.5% | 4.5% | 4.5% |
| Ordinary Share Tax Free Equivalent Yield (At Additional Rate) |
7.27% | 7.27% | 7.27% |
| Audited year end to 29 February 2020 |
Audited year end to 28 February 2019 |
Audited year end to 28 February 2018 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
| (Losses)/gains on investments at fair value | (329) | (612) | 232 |
| Gains/(losses) on disposals of investments | 122 | (88) | (159) |
| Unrealised exchange losses on outstanding trades |
(4) | - | - |
| Income | 154 | 91 | 65 |
| Investment management fees | (264) | (197) | (154) |
| Other expenses | (239) | (221) | (202) |
| Deficit attributable to Shareholders | (560) | (1,027) | (273) |
| Deficit per Ordinary Share | (2.6)p | (7.3)p | (2.7)p |
| Audited year end to 29 February 2020 |
Audited year end to 28 February 2019 |
Audited year end to 28 February 2018 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
| Fixed assets | |||
| Investments | 14,309 | 11,593 | 7,982 |
| Sales awaiting settlement | 88 | ||
| Current assets | |||
| Debtors | 151 | 1,417 | 44 |
| Cash at bank and in hand | 3,156 | 1,176 | 2,267 |
| Creditors: amounts falling due within one year |
(160) | (145) | (142) |
| Net current assets | 3,147 | 2,448 | 2,169 |
| Net assets | 17,453 | 13,971 | 10,130 |
| Capital and reserves | |||
| Called up share capital | 249 | 184 | 116 |
| Share premium | 10,323 | 5,584 | 298 |
| Special reserve | 8,725 | 9,488 | 9,974 |
| Capital redemption reserve | 57 | 56 | 56 |
| Capital reserve - realised | (412) | 215 | 451 |
| Capital reserve - unrealised | (223) | (441) | 171 |
| Revenue reserve | (1,266) | (1,115) | (936) |
| Total equity shareholders' funds | 17,453 | 13,971 | 10,130 |
| Net asset value per share | 70.2p | 75.8p | 87.0p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audited year end to 29 February 2020 £'000 |
Audited year end to 28 February 2019 £'000 |
Audited year end to 28 February 2018 £'000 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash flow from operating activities | |||
| Investment income received | 64 | 47 | 67 |
| Deposit interest received | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| Investment managements fee | (245) | (190) | (145) |
| Other cash payments | (246) | (213) | (264) |
| Net cash flow from operating activities | (420) | (353) | (340) |
| Cash flow from investing activities | |||
| Purchase of investments | (3,511) | (6,057) | (1,070) |
| Sale of investments | 496 | 1,746 | 73 |
| Net cash flow from investing activities | (3,015) | (4,311) | (997) |
| Cash flow from financing | |||
| Ordinary share issue / D Share issue | 6,274 | 4,157 | 418 |
| Expense of Ordinary / D Share issue | (81) | (94) | (127) |
| IFA trail commission | (7) | (4) | (3) |
| Neptune-Calculus cash received | - | - | 286 |
| Expense of Neptune-Calculus transaction | (8) | - | (102) |
| Share buybacks for cancellation | (54) | (35) | (49) |
| Equity dividend paid | (709) | (451) | (601) |
| Net cash flow from financing activities | 5,415 | 3,573 | (178) |
| Analysis of changes in cash and cash equivalents |
|||
| Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year |
1,176 | 2,267 | 3,782 |
| Net cash (decrease)/increase | 1,980 | (1,091) | (1,515) |
| Cash and cash equivalents at year end | 3,156 | 1,176 | 2,267 |
Aside from the movement in the NAV and the payment of the 2020 dividend of 3.2 pence per share in July 2020, there has been no significant change in the financial position or financial performance of the Company which has occurred since 29 February 2020, being the financial year end of the most recent audited financial report and accounts of the Company.
The securities being offered pursuant to the Offer are Ordinary Shares of 1 penny each (ISIN: GB00BYQPF348). The Offer Shares will be created pursuant to resolutions passed by the Shareholders at the Company's annual general meeting which was held on 3 July 2020.
The Offer Shares will rank equally in all respects with each other and with the existing Ordinary Shares. Shareholders will be entitled to receive certificates in respect of their Offer Shares and will also be eligible for electronic settlement. The Offer Shares will be listed on the premium segment of the Official List and, as a result, will be freely transferable.
The Board has a stated objective of paying annual dividends equal to 4.5% of the prevailing NAV of the Ordinary Shares per annum. This will be subject to investment performance, availability of distributable reserves and the need to retain cash for investment purposes and annual running costs. Returns will be dependent on the performance of the portfolio of the Company's Investments. The Board will review the Company's dividend policy annually to take account of the performance of its investments. Calculus Capital will focus on investing in companies where an exit within 3-5 years through a trade sale or flotation is reasonably foreseeable. It is intended that any profits made on the disposal of investments will be distributed to Shareholders, to the extent that this is prudent. To enable the Company to pay the intended annual dividend, Calculus Capital will invest by way of loan stock and/or fixed rate preference shares as well as ordinary shares.
Applications will be made to the FCA for the Ordinary Shares offered for subscription pursuant to the Prospectus to be admitted to the premium segment of the Official List of the FCA. Application will also be made to the London Stock Exchange for the Offer Shares to be admitted to trading on its main market for listed securities. It is expected that admission will become effective and that trading in the Offer Shares will commence three business days following allotment.
There is no guarantee attached to the Offer Shares.
The Offer opens on the date of the Prospectus and will close on 27 August 2021 (or earlier at the discretion of the directors or if full subscription is reached). Investors must be over 18 years old.
Application has been made to the FCA for the Offer Shares to be admitted to the Official List of the FCA. Application will also be made to the London Stock Exchange for such Offer Shares to be admitted to trading on its market for listed securities. It is expected that Admission will become effective and that trading in the Offer Shares will commence three Business Days following allotment.
The number of Offer Shares to be issued to an Investor shall be calculated based on the following Pricing Formula (rounded down to the nearest whole Share):
| Number of | = | Amount subscribed: | ÷ | NAV* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offer Shares | (i) Less Promoter's Fee |
|||
| (ii) Less Initial Adviser | ||||
| Charge/initial Commission | ||||
| (iii) Plus Applicable early | ||||
| application and/or loyalty | ||||
| discount |
*The NAV will be the most recently published NAV per Share on the day of the allotment, adjusted for dividends declared and for which the record date for payment has passed at the time of allotment.
The estimated expenses of the Offer will be 5.0% of the funds raised (assuming investment solely by Investors in respect of whom commission is payable). If the Offer is fully subscribed (ignoring the over-allotment facility) the net proceeds of the Offer would be approximately £9,500,000.
An existing holder of Ordinary Shares who does not subscribe for Offer Shares pursuant to the Offer would experience no dilution in terms of NAV per share (as the assets of the Company will be increased by the proceeds of the Offer and the upfront costs of the Offer are borne by subscribers) but will experience dilution in terms of voting. The Company will bear the costs of on-going trail commission which is not borne by subscribers through the application of the above Pricing Formula. All others incidental costs of the Offer will be borne by the Promoter from its fee.
The Offer is not underwritten save that the Offer costs, other than intermediary commission, are underwritten by the Promoter in consideration of the Promoter's Fee.
The Offer is being made, and its proceeds will be used, to raise additional funds raised under the Offer to be invested in accordance with the Company's investment policy. The Company is a generalist VCT. Funds raised under the Offer will, no later than three years following the end of the accounting period in which those shares are issued, be invested as to at least 80% in VCT qualifying companies with 30% of such funds so invested within 12 months of the end of the relevant accounting period. The remainder of such funds raised will be held in cash or other permitted non-qualifying investments.
Shareholders and prospective shareholders should carefully consider the following risk factors in addition to the other information presented in this document and the Prospectus as a whole. If any of the risks described below were to occur, it could have a material effect on the Company's business, financial condition or results of operations. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones the Company, the Board or Investors in the Company will face. Additional risks not currently known to the Company or the Board, or that the Company or the Board currently believe are not material, may also adversely affect the Company's business, financial condition, and results of operations. The value of Shares could decline due to any of these risk factors, and Investors could lose part or all of their investment. Investors who are in any doubt should consult their independent financial adviser. The attention of prospective Investors is drawn to the following risks:
should not be regarded as an indication of the performance of investments to be made by the Company. The Company has achieved a number of successful exits in recent years and hopes to continue this trend but this cannot be guaranteed and macro-economic changes such as Brexit and the COVID-19 outbreak could lead to fewer willing buyers and a reduction in exit values.
The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has had ramifications throughout the UK economy. Since the February 2020 year end, the NAV has twice been revalued in the context of the nationwide lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, initially to 65.1p as at 31 March 2020 and then to 67.01p as at 31 May
The overall reduction in NAV has been limited because the Company is shielded to a degree by holding a significant portion of its assets in cash. Furthermore, although some portfolio companies have been adversely affected by the impact of COVID-19 such as investments in the leisure and energy sectors, the Company has invested in several life sciences companies which are benefiting from creating products to aid the fight against COVID-19.
| Offer opens | 8 September 2020 |
|---|---|
| Closing date (for 2020/21 tax year) | 31 March 2021 |
| Closing date (for 2021/22 tax year)* | 27 August 2021 |
| First allotment | no later than 1 April 2021 |
| Effective date for the listing of Offer Shares and | three Business Days following allotment |
| commencement of dealings | |
| Share certificates and tax certificates to be dispatched | ten Business Days following allotment |
* The Directors reserve the right to extend the closing date at their discretion. The Offer will close earlier than the date stated above if fully subscribed or otherwise at the Directors' discretion.
| Maximum amount to be raised by the Company* | £10 million |
|---|---|
| Unaudited NAV per Share as at 31 July 2020 | 62.94p |
| Maximum number of Offer Shares to be issued** | 15 million |
| Estimated net proceeds of the Offer** | £9.5 million |
| Discount for applications received by 31 January 2021*** | 0.5% |
| Discount for applications received from existing Investors in the | 0.5% |
| Company*** |
* The Directors reserve the right to increase the size of the Offer by up to an additional £5 million.
** Approximate figure, assuming full subscription, no use of the over-allotment facility and total Offer costs of 5% of funds raised. *** Discounts to funds invested for early applications and for existing Investors in the Company will be applied through an increase in the number of Offer Shares allocated via the Pricing Formula.
Advised Investors
Promoter's Fee 3.0% of funds invested Adviser charge as agreed between Investor and Intermediary
Promoter's Fee 3.0% of funds invested Commission* 2.0% of funds invested up front 0.5% trail per annum based on year end NAV (maximum of 3.0% of funds invested)
Promoter's Fee 5.0% of funds invested
* Commission will only be paid where it can be justified in accordance with FCA rules on inducements. The above table provides a summary only and does not consider all situations where commission may or may not be payable.
In this Prospectus, the following expressions have the following meanings:
| "2019 Offer" | the Offer for subscription for Ordinary Shares launched in 2019 which closed on 28 August 2020 |
|---|---|
| "Admission" | the date on which the Offer Shares are listed on the Official List of the FCA and admitted to dealing on the LSE's main market for listed securities |
| "Annual Report" | the annual report and financial statements of the Company for the year ended 29 February 2020 |
| "Articles" | the articles of association of the Company, as amended from time to time |
| "Board" or "Directors" | the board of directors of the Company |
| "Brexit" | the UK's departure from the European Union on the 31 January 2020 |
| "Business Day" | any day (other than a Saturday or Sunday) on which clearing banks are open for normal banking business in the City of London |
| "CA 2006" | Companies Act 2006, as amended |
| "Class Merger" | the merger of the Old Ordinary Shares, C Shares and D Shares to create the current Ordinary Share class of the Company which completed on 31 July 2017 |
| "Company" or "Calculus VCT" | Calculus VCT plc (company number: 07142153) |
| "C Shares" | the C ordinary shares of the Company that were in issued prior to the completion of the Class Merger |
| "D Shares" | the D ordinary shares of the Company that were in issued prior to the completion of the Class Merger |
| "Existing Shareholders" | holders of Shares as at the date of this Prospectus |
| "FCA" | the Financial Conduct Authority |
| "FSMA" | the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended |
| "HMRC" | HM Revenue & Customs |
| "IA 1986" | Insolvency Act 1986, as amended |
| "Investor" | an individual who subscribes for Offer Shares pursuant to the Offer |
| "ITA 2007" | Income Tax Act 2007, as amended |
| "Listing Rules" | the listing rules of the FCA |
| "London Stock Exchange" or "LSE" |
London Stock Exchange plc |
| "Manager" or "Calculus Capital" | Calculus Capital Limited, the Company's investment manager in respect of its venture capital portfolio |
| "NAV" | net asset value |
| "Neptune" | Neptune-Calculus Income and Growth VCT plc (in liquidation) |
| "Neptune Merger" | the merger of the Company with Neptune which completed on 12 September 2017 |
|---|---|
| "Offer" | the Offer to raise up to £10 million (with an over-allotment facility of up to an additional £5 million) by issues of new Ordinary Shares in the capital of the Company, as set out in this Prospectus |
| "Offer Shares" | the new Ordinary Shares to be issued pursuant to the Offer |
| "Official List" | the official list of the FCA |
| "Old Ordinary Shares" | the ordinary shares of the Company that were in issue prior to the completion of the Class Merger |
| "Overseas Shareholders" | Shareholders who are not resident in the UK |
| "Prospectus" | this document |
| "Shareholder" | a holder of Shares |
| "Shares" or "Ordinary Shares" | ordinary shares of 1p each in the capital of the Company |
| "TCGA 1992" | Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, as amended |
| "UK" | the United Kingdom |
| "VCT" or "venture capital trust" | a company satisfying the requirements of Chapter 3 of Part 6 of ITA 2007 for venture capital trusts |
| "VCT Rules" | the legislation, rules and HMRC interpretation and practice regulating the establishment and operation of venture capital trusts |
The case for investing in venture capital investments remains as strong as it was at the launch of the Company back in February 2010. Independent research have shown that the existing funding shortfall for fast growing SMEs has been further accentuated by the ongoing pandemic, so much so that even high quality, professionally managed smaller companies are finding it difficult to raise funds for expansion. However, with continued governmental support of VCT and EIS investment as a strategy for growth, these tax advantaged schemes are well placed to play an important part in enabling small private companies to fulfil their potential whilst bolstering the UK's economic recovery. In contrast, there remains uncertainty around the future for tax reliefs on pension contributions.
Calculus VCT, with its focus on investing smaller entrepreneurial businesses, is ideally positioned and set up to benefit from available investment opportunities, presenting Investors with an excellent opportunity in a post-Covid economy. The Company is launching the Offer to source additional funds to invest in venture capital opportunities for the benefit of existing and new Shareholders.
The key points of the Offer are set out below:
If you wish to invest, please read the whole Prospectus and complete the Application Form which is available separately from Calculus Capital (www.calculuscapital.com). If Investors have any questions regarding this investment, they should contact their financial intermediary. For questions relating to an application, please telephone Calculus Capital on 020 7493 4940 or send an email to [email protected]. Investors should note that no investment advice can be given by Calculus Capital and their attention is drawn to the risk factors set out on pages 11 to 13 of this document.
The independent Directors have appointed Calculus Capital to manage the Company's venture capital investments because of its excellent track record and experience of tax efficient investing.
VCTs were introduced in 1995 to encourage individuals to invest indirectly in a range of small and growing UK trading companies. VCTs are investment companies whose shares are listed on the Official List and traded on the London Stock Exchange. To date, over £8 billion has been raised by VCTs and £619 million was raised by VCTs in the 2019/20 tax year1 .
VCTs were created so that their investors could benefit from a spread of VCT qualifying investments under the supervision of professional managers who can contribute valuable experience, contacts and advice to the businesses in which they invest. For the tax benefits to be available, VCTs are required to be approved by HM Revenue & Customs for the purposes of the venture capital trust legislation. VCTs are entitled to exemption from corporation tax on any gains arising on the disposal of their investments and such gains may be distributed taxfree to Investors. Dividends and capital distributions from VCTs are currently tax-free, subject to a maximum investment of £200,000 per individual per tax year and no change in VCT regulations.
The Offer opens on 8 September 2020 and will close at 5.00pm on 27 August 2021, unless extended. Applications will be accepted (in whole or part) at the discretion of the Board, but the Board intends to meet applications on a 'first come, first served' basis.
The Offer Shares will be issued at a price determined for each Investor by reference to a pricing formula which takes into account the level of Promoter's Fee, Adviser Charge/commission and early application/loyalty discount which is applicable to that Investor.
Investors whose applications are received by 31 January 2020 will benefit from a 0.5% early application discount based on gross funds invested. Existing Shareholders who apply will receive an additional 0.5% loyalty discount based on gross funds invested.
The minimum investment by an Investor under the Offer is £5,000 including any fee facilitation amount (subject to the Directors' discretion to accept any lower amount).
Fractions of Offer Shares will not be issued. Subscription monies of £5 or more not used to acquire Offer Shares will be refunded.
The number of Offer Shares to be issued to an Investor shall be calculated based on the following Pricing Formula (rounded down to the nearest whole Share):
| Number of | = | Amount subscribed: | ÷ | NAV* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offer Shares | (i) Less Promoter's Fee |
|||
| (ii) Less Initial Adviser |
||||
| Charge/initial Commission | ||||
| (iii) Plus Applicable early | ||||
| application and/or loyalty | ||||
| discount | ||||
*The NAV will be the most recently published NAV per Share on the day of the allotment, adjusted for dividends declared and for which the record date for payment has passed at the time of allotment.
The Company, through the mechanism of the Pricing Formula, will pay to Calculus Capital a fee of up to:
• 3.0% of the funds invested by Investors who subscribe through authorised intermediaries;
1 Source: AIC Statistics, theaic.co.uk
and
• 5.0% of funds invested by Investors who subscribe directly
in consideration of its acting as Promoter of the Offer. The Company shall pay 2.0% initial commission of funds invested to the financial intermediaries of certain non-advised Investors (subject to the application of rules on inducements introduced by MiFID II) and certain professional client Investors, subject to such intermediaries' election to waive such commission and reinvest it for additional Offer Shares on behalf of their clients. In addition, the Company shall, pursuant to the terms of the Offer, pay an annual trail commission of 0.5% per annum based on the year end NAV of the Offer Shares, subject to a cumulative maximum of 3.0% of the amount subscribed for them, to the authorised intermediaries of eligible non-advised Investors and certain professional client Investors. The Company will be responsible for paying such initial commission and Adviser Charge facilitation payments to financial intermediaries as are calculated in accordance with the Pricing Formula set out above. Other than the above Promoter's Fees, initial commission, trail commission and Adviser Charge facilitation payments, all costs, charges and expenses of or incidental to the Offer shall be paid by the Promoter from the Promoter's Fee.
The net proceeds for the Company from the Offer, assuming full subscription but ignoring the over-allotment facility, Offer costs of 5.0% and ignoring reinvested commission and early investment/loyalty bonuses, will therefore amount to approximately £9.5 million.
Investors can now purchase the Company's shares by monthly standing order. Investors simply need to complete the 'standing order' section in the Application Form and the Company will collect this amount from the Investor's nominated bank account via standing order on or around day 14 of every month. Upon setting up the standing order, Investors must ensure that they will reach the minimum investment amount under the Offer of £5,000 by the time the Offer closes. At roughly three-monthly intervals, this money will be used to purchase Offer Shares. Share and tax certificates will be sent shortly after the regular share allotment dates which are currently scheduled for: December (2020/21 tax year), April (2020/21 tax year), and August (2021/22 tax year).
If the Offer proves popular and looks to be reaching capacity early, the Company will stop taking new applications but will keep collecting money and allotting Offer Shares for existing standing order customers. The Company aims to continue these collections until the Offer formally closes on 27 August 2021. Once the Offer has closed, Investors will be contacted and asked whether they would like monies collected after the Offer has closed to be returned or, on the assumption that the Company launches another offer (a "New Offer"), whether they would like to continue with the standing order. If an Investor would like to continue with the standing order they will be sent a copy of the Prospectus and application form for the New Offer to confirm their wish to continue investing.
Investors have the option of receiving their dividends directly in cash to their specified bank account or can elect to have their dividend reinvested into the Company for additional Ordinary Shares. By reinvesting dividends, investors are able to increase the size of their holding without incurring any additional offer costs, and, subject to their personal circumstances, will receive an additional 30% income tax relief on amounts reinvested on their total VCT investments of up to £200,000 per tax year, subject always to the prevailing VCT rules and limits. The full terms and conditions of the Company's dividend reinvestment scheme are set out in Part 8 of this Prospectus.
The Company's principal objectives for Investors are to:
term returns within a tax efficient vehicle;
It is intended that a minimum of 75% of the monies raised by the Company will be initially invested in a variety of investments which will be selected to preserve capital value, whilst generating income, and may include:
The Company's policy is to build a diverse portfolio of VCT qualifying investments of primarily established unquoted companies across different industries and investments which may be by way of loan stock and/or fixed rate preference shares as well as ordinary shares to generate income. The amount invested in any one sector and any one company will be no more than 20% and 10% respectively of the qualifying portfolio. These percentages are measured as at the time of investment. The Board and its Manager, Calculus Capital, will review the portfolio of investments on a regular basis to assess asset allocation and the need to realise investments to meet the Company's objectives or maintain VCT status.
Under its Articles, the Company has the ability to borrow a maximum amount equal to 25% of the aggregate amount paid on all shares issued by the Company (together with any share premium thereon). The Board will consider borrowing if it is in the Shareholders' interests to do so. The Company may borrow on a short-term to medium-term basis for cashflow purposes and to facilitate the payment of dividends and expenses.
The Company will not vary the investment objective or the investment policy, to any material extent, without the approval of Shareholders. The Company intends to be a generalist VCT investing in a wide range of sectors.
The Board controls the overall risk of the Company. Calculus Capital will ensure the Company has exposure to a diversified range of venture capital investments from different sectors.
The Company is subject to the investment restrictions relating to a venture capital trust in the ITA 2007, as more particularly detailed in Part 5 of the Prospectus, and in the Listing Rules which specify that (i) the Company must, at all times, invest and manage its assets in a way which is consistent with its object of spreading investment risk and in accordance with its published investment policy as set out above; (ii) the Company must not conduct any trading activity which is significant in the context of its group as a whole; and (iii) the Company may not invest more than 10% in aggregate, of the value of its total assets at the time an investment is made in other listed closed-ended investment funds. Any material change to the investment policy of the Company will require the approval of the Shareholders pursuant to the Listing Rules. The Company intends to direct its affairs in respect of each of its accounting periods so as to qualify as a venture capital trust and maintain its status as a premium listed closed ended investment fund and accordingly:
undertakings;
In the event of a breach of the investment restrictions which apply to the Company as described in this paragraph, Shareholders will be informed by means of the interim and/or the annual report or through a public announcement.
Calculus Capital has a co-investment policy between its various funds whereby investment allocations are generally offered to each party in proportion to their respective funds available for investment, subject to: (i) a priority being given to any of the funds in order to maintain their tax status; (ii) the time horizon of the investment opportunity being compatible with the exit strategy of each fund; and (iii) the risk/reward profile of the investment opportunity being compatible with the target return for each fund. The terms of the investments may differ between the parties. In the event of any conflicts between the parties, the issues will be resolved at the discretion of the independent directors, designated members and committees.
A privileged feature of a VCT, not available to an investment trust, is the ability to distribute net realised capital profits tax-free to Investors. The Company intends to take full advantage of this by paying out gains arising from successful realisations of investments.
The Board has a stated objective of paying annual dividends equal to 4.5% of the prevailing NAV of the Ordinary Shares per annum. This will be subject to investment performance, availability of distributable reserves and the need to retain cash for investment purposes and annual running costs. Returns will be dependent on the performance of the portfolio of the Company's Investments. The Board will review the Company's dividend policy annually to take account of the performance of its investments. Calculus Capital will focus on investing in companies where an exit within 3-5 years through a trade sale or flotation is reasonably foreseeable. It is intended that any profits made on the disposal of investments will be distributed to Shareholders, to the extent that this is prudent. To enable the Company to pay the intended annual dividend, Calculus Capital will invest by way of loan stock and/or fixed rate preference shares as well as ordinary shares.
The Board is aware that although the Offer Shares are intended to be traded on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities, it is unlikely that there will be a liquid market for such shares as there is a limited secondary market for VCT shares due to the holding period required to maintain up-front income tax reliefs and the lack of income tax relief on "second hand" VCT shares. Shareholders may, therefore, find it difficult to realise their investments.
The Board, therefore, considers that the Company should have the ability to purchase its Shares in the market with the aim of providing the opportunity for Shareholders who wish to sell their Shares to do so. Subject to maintaining a level of liquidity in the Company which the Board considers appropriate, it is the intention that such purchases of Shares will be made at a price which represents a discount of no greater than 5% to the most recently published net asset value per share. Shares bought back will be cancelled.
Share buybacks will be subject to Shareholder authorities, CA 2006, the Listing Rules and the VCT Rules and any other statutory or regulatory requirements from time to time.
The Board comprises four non-executive Directors, three of whom (including the Chairman) are independent of the Manager. The Board has substantial experience of venture capital businesses and overall responsibility for the Company's affairs, including determining the investment policy of the Company. John Glencross is a director of Calculus Capital.
Jan has been a mechanical engineer for over 30 years in metals, manufacturing, and distribution. She has worked at board level for specialty metals producers and distributors and has lived and worked in the US, Europe and the Middle East. Jan is the Founder of Corrotherm International Ltd, a company specializing in high alloy metals for use in oil, gas, petrochemical power and desalination industries, she grew the company from a one-woman company to an entity now with offices in 10 countries.
An adviser and non-executive board member to a number of manufacturing companies and government departments, she is also the Director of the Saudi British Joint Business Council and UAE UK Business Council, Director of Energy Industries Council.
She is a NatWest everywoman award winner, as well as IoD London and South East Global Director of the year. Jan was awarded a CBE for services to Business and Honorary Doctorate of Engineering.
Jan became Chairman on the retirement of Michael O'Higgins. Her experience and knowledge of growth companies will prove invaluable to the company.
Janine has spent more than 20 years in private equity and asset management in both investment and operational roles. Latterly, Janine was Chief Operating Officer at GHO Capital, a specialist investor in European and North American healthcare. Prior to that, she was Chief Operating Officer at Hermes GPE, an investor in private equity funds, companies and infrastructure. Janine joined both of these businesses at their inception and shaped the governance, risk and operating strategies that underpinned a number of successful fundraisings from institutional investors. Before turning to operations, she was Head of Private Equity for The Pearl Group.
Janine began her career with 7 years at Price Waterhouse where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant before moving into corporate finance and transaction roles in New York and London. She holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from INSEAD, a BSc(Econ) from the London School of Economics and the Investment Management Certificate.
John co-founded Calculus Capital Limited in 1999, creating one of the UK's most successful, independent private equity firms focused on investing in smaller, unquoted companies.
John has over 30 years' experience in private equity, corporate finance, and operational management. During that time, he has invested in, advised on or negotiated more than 100 transactions and served on publicly quoted and private corporate boards. He is a board member of the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association and a member of its Tax and Technical and its Regulatory Committees. He was also a director of Neptune-Calculus Income and Growth plc until its assets and liabilities were acquired by the Company. Before co-founding Calculus Capital Limited, John served as an Executive Director of European Corporate Finance for UBS for nine years where he advised on M&A, IPOs, restructurings and recapitalisations, strategic alliances and private equity. Prior to this, John was headhunted to be Head of the Mergers & Acquisitions Group of Philips and Drew, a 100 year old London based financial institution.
At the start of his career, John qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Peat Marwick (subsequently KPMG), where he then went on to be recruited as a founder member of Deloitte's newly established Corporate Finance practice in London. John graduated from the University of Oxford with an MA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Claire has a background in financial services marketing and research and is currently an independent consultant. Prior to this, she was Head of European Corporate & Research Marketing for equity research firm, AB Bernstein where she was responsible for directing the strategy, growth, development and execution of the EMEA corporate research marketing programme. During her eleven years at Bernstein, she developed their European Strategic Decisions Conference to become Europe's largest and most respected generalist conference, rated by institutional investors and corporate management teams. Claire was ranked yearly under "Specialist Sales" across multiple sectors in the European Extel Survey.
Before joining Bernstein, Claire consulted for a number of Corporate Finance Boutiques, Investment Management firms and High Net Worth Individuals. Claire began her career working at JPMorgan Chase (previously Flemings Investment Bank) and is a qualified Paralegal and Legal Executive.
| Jan Ward | Current | Past 5 Years |
|---|---|---|
| Calculus VCT plc | Hardide PLC | |
| Antech Limited | Hampshire Chamber of Commerce | |
| Red Penguin Associates Ltd | Southampton Cultural Development Trust | |
| Corrotherm International Ltd | JJHL and Co Limited | |
| Energy and Utility Skills Group Limited | Solent Enterprise Partnership Limited | |
| Millers Oils Ltd | ||
| J Holmes Ltd | ||
| CIL UK Holdings Ltd | ||
| Inco Alloys Limited | ||
| Saudi British Joint Business Council | ||
| Janine Nicholls | Current | Past 5 Years |
| Calculus VCT | Saffron Midco 1 Ltd | |
| FeMan Consulting Ltd | Saffron Midco 2 Ltd | |
| Saffron Bidco Ltd | ||
| Price Midco (UK Ltd) | ||
| Atlantic Automate (UK) Ltd | ||
| HGPE Capital Ltd | ||
| John Glencross | Current | Past 5 Years |
| Calculus Advisory Limited | Hembuild Group Limited | |
| Calculus Asset Management Limited | Terrain Energy Limited | |
| Calculus Capital Limited | Neptune-Calculus Income and Growth VCT | |
| Calculus Capital Partners Limited | plc | |
| Calculus Holdings Limited | ||
| Calculus Nominees Limited | ||
| Calculus VCT plc | ||
| McDonald Glencross Limited | ||
| The EIS Association Limited | ||
| The Alchemy Circle Ltd | ||
| The Alchemy Circle Media Ltd | ||
| Maven Screen Media Ltd |
| Claire Olsen | Current | Past 5 Years |
|---|---|---|
| Calculus VCT plc | ||
| Leaf Management Services Limited |
As at 7 September 2020 (the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document), the interests of the Directors (and their immediate families) in the issued Ordinary Share capital of the Company were as follows:
| Director | Shares held | % of total issued share capital |
|---|---|---|
| John Glencross | 61,341 Ordinary Shares | 0.21% |
| Jan Ward | No holdings | - |
| Janine Nicholls | 22,566 | 0.08% |
| Claire Olsen | No holdings | - |
Save as set out above, no Director nor any member of their respective immediate families has an interest in the capital of the Company which is or would, immediately following the Offer, be required to be entered in the register maintained under section 808 of the CA 2006 nor does any person connected with any Director (within the meaning of section 252 of the CA 2006) have any such interest which would, if the connected person were a Director, be required to be disclosed and the existence of which is known to or could with reasonable diligence be ascertained by such Director.
John Glencross was appointed under a letter of appointment dated 22 February 2010. Janine Nicholls was appointed under a letter of appointment dated 30 June 2020. Claire Olsen was appointed under a letter of appointment dated 13 December 2018. Jan Ward was appointed under a letter of appointment dated 31 January 2019. The appointments are subject to an initial period expiring immediately following the first annual general meeting, and (subject to re-election at the first annual general meeting) thereafter the appointments may be terminated on 3 months' notice. No arrangements have been entered into by the Company entitling the Directors to compensation for loss of office, nor have any amounts been set aside to provide pension, retirement or similar benefits. The total annual remuneration receivable by Jan Ward as chairman is £24,000 (plus applicable employers' National Insurance Contributions). The total annual remuneration receivable by Janine Nicholls as chair of the Audit Committee (plus applicable employers' National Insurance Contributions) is £20,000 and the total annual renumeration received by Claire Olsen is £18,000 (plus applicable employers' National Insurance Contributions). John Glencross does not receive any remuneration from the Company in respect of his appointment. Aggregate Directors' emoluments for the year ended 29 February 2020 were £68,000 (plus applicable employers' National Insurance Contributions).
The Directors, other than John Glencross who is Chief Executive of Calculus Capital (for the reasons set out in the paragraph below), act and will continue to act independently of Calculus Capital. No majority of the Directors will be directors or employees of, or former directors or employees of, or professional advisers to Calculus Capital or any other company in the same group as Calculus Capital.
Where the Company invests in companies in which other Calculus Funds have invested or subsequently invest, conflicts of interest may arise. In such a scenario, Calculus Capital will apply its internal conflicts policy (which includes, for instance, priority being given to funds which need to maintain their tax status or which have a risk profile most appropriate to the relevant investment) in order to reconcile the conflict in the first instance and thereafter, if required, the Directors will exercise their independent judgement, so far as they are able, to protect the interest of Shareholders.
Save for the management arrangements, performance incentive arrangements and promoters arrangement set out in paragraphs 4.1 – 4.10 of Part 6 of this document, under which Calculus Capital are entitled to fees, and coinvestment by Calculus Funds, as at the date of this Prospectus, there were no other potential conflicts of interest between the duties to the Company of any Director, service provider or other third party and their private interests and/or duties or any other interests which are material to the Offer.
Except as stated above, no Director is or has been interested in any transaction which is or was unusual in its nature or conditions or significant to the business of the Company and which was effected by the Company in the period since its incorporation and remains in any respect outstanding or unperformed.
No loan or guarantee has been granted or provided by the Company to or for the benefit of any of the Directors.
The Company has taken out directors' and officers' liability insurance for the benefit of its directors, which is renewable on an annual basis.
No Director has any convictions in relation to fraudulent offences during the previous five years.
Save as disclosed in this paragraph, in the five years prior to the publication of this document, there were no bankruptcies, receiverships or liquidations (save in respect of solvent liquidations) of any companies or partnership where any of the Directors were acting as (i) a member of the administrative, management or supervisory body, (ii) a partner with unlimited liability, in the case of a limited partnership with a share capital, (iii) a founder where the company had been established for fewer than five years nor (iv) a senior manager during the previous five years.
There has been no official public incrimination and/or sanction of any Director by statutory or regulatory authorities (including designated professional bodies) and no Director has ever been disqualified by a court from acting as a member of the administrative, management or supervisory bodies of a company or from acting in the management or conduct of the affairs of any company during the previous five years.
The Board has appointed Calculus Capital to manage its venture capital investments. Calculus Capital will not advise the Board in relation to the Company's non-VCT qualifying capital preservation investments. The Board will, as required, consult a suitable adviser in respect of the investment of these funds.
Calculus Capital was incorporated on 19 October 1999 under the laws of England and Wales where it is registered as a private limited company with registered number 03861194 and its Legal Entity Identifier is 213800ZZS2KUF9Y6LF44. Calculus Capital is authorised and regulated by the FCA (with FCA number 190854). Calculus Capital is appointed as manager to the Company and also provides secretarial, administration and custodian services to the Company. A pioneer in tax efficient investing with a 20+ year track record of investing in growth focused companies, Calculus Capital created the UK's first approved Enterprise Investment Scheme fund. Since then, it has successfully launched a further 22 EIS funds and has been managing VCTs since 2005. As at 31 July 2020, it had £139 million of funds under management or advice (including the qualifying assets of the Company).
Calculus Capital is a generalist Investor and has extensive experience investing across a multitude of sectors, including hosted software, life sciences, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, energy and transportation. Calculus Capital's focus is to find and back capable management teams in established companies which are already successfully selling products and services.
The chart below shows the sector concentration, by number of investee companies, of Calculus Capital's investments across its EIS and VCT portfolio as at 29 February 2020.

Calculus Capital intends to invest in entrepreneurial businesses with growth potential, over a range of sectors and aims to reduce risk when compared to many competitor products by primarily targeting companies with the following characteristics:
Calculus Capital is recognised as a leading manager of Venture Capital Investments and has been awarded the EIS Association "Best EIS Fund Manager" Award five times, "Best EIS Investment Manager" at the 2018 and 2016 Growth Investor Awards and "Best Generalist EIS" at the 2018 Tax Efficiency Awards. Calculus Capital has also been named Finalist in the Best VCT category for both the 2019 Investment Week Tax Efficiency awards and 2018 Growth Investor Awards. Calculus Capital's success is underpinned by a disciplined investment process, strong risk management and very close monitoring of and partnership with the portfolio companies.
Calculus Capital's investment portfolio across the UK

Calculus Capital has a very structured and active investment process and takes great care in managing Investors' money.
Calculus Capital has an established track record of identifying high quality EIS and VCT Qualifying Companies. On average, its investment team reviews around 500+ deals a year and completes around 12 – 15 investments across its EIS and VCT funds.
Calculus Capital's standing and longevity in the market ensures it receives excellent deal flow from a range of sources. A substantial number of investment opportunities come from its Investor base and management teams that it has successfully backed in the past. As it has a strong relationship with these sources, such opportunities are often pre-screened and strongly aligned with its investment approach. The firm also benefits from its investment team's diverse industry experience and personal networks of lawyers, advisers and brokers to source potential deals.
Calculus Capital's long track record of successful exits is down to its talented investment team and the robust process they follow. The firm's detailed due diligence process normally takes 4-5 months per company, and there is a keen focus on the strength of the management team. Often it will send in an executive coach to evaluate the team and identify strengths and weaknesses. Thorough financial, legal and commercial due diligence is executed by third parties. Its due diligence culminates in a detailed investment agreement including key warranties and Investor rights.
From the moment Calculus Capital invests in a company, a partnership is formed. The firm helps its investee companies create value by actively supporting the business, sharing its market knowledge, connections and using its in depth experience of growing small UK businesses. It also runs a series of 'toolkit' seminars including CEO forums and CFO workshops, where its portfolio companies can meet their peers, exchange ideas and hear from a leading industry expert. Often, the issues facing small businesses are similar regardless of sector. Recent topics include 'how to build a leading sales team' and 'cyber security'.

Calculus Capital has been appointed as the discretionary investment manager to the Company in respect of the venture capital investments portfolio for which Calculus Capital receives an annual management fee of 1.75% of the net assets of the Ordinary Shares. Calculus Capital will also be entitled to a performance incentive fee equal to 20% of Shareholder proceeds in excess of 105p.
Chief Executive
Details for John Glencross can be found on page 22.
Susan is one of the UK's leading experts on investing in smaller companies and the government's Enterprise Investment Scheme. A pioneer of the EIS industry, in 1999/2000, she structured and launched the UK's first HMRC approved EIS fund with John Glencross. Susan has over 29 years of experience and has personally directed investment to over 80 companies in the last 20 years covering a diverse range of sectors. She has regularly served as board member of the firm's private equity-backed companies. Before co-founding Calculus Capital, Susan was Director and Head of Asian Equity Sales at Banco Santander. Prior to this, she gained over 12 years' experience in company analysis, flotations and private placements with Jardine Fleming in Hong Kong, Robert Fleming (London) and Peregrine Securities (UK) Limited. Susan has an MBA from the University of Arizona and a BSc from the University of Florida. Before entering the financial services industry, Susan worked for Conoco National Gas Products Division and with Abbott Laboratories Diagnostics Division.
Richard joined Calculus Capital in 2013. Prior to this he was a Director at Citigroup, which he joined in 2005, and previously worked at JPMorgan and Strata Technology Partners. Richard has over 14 years' corporate finance experience advising public and private corporations and financial sponsors on a range of M&A and capital raising transactions. Richard began his investment banking career in the UK mid-cap advisory team at Flemings (acquired by JPMorgan in 2000), working with companies across a broad a range of sectors. More recently Richard has specialized in advising companies in the technology industry. Richard has advised on a wide range of transactions including buy-side and sell-side M&A mandates, public equity and debt offerings, private equity investments and leveraged buy outs in the UK, Europe, US and Asia. Richard began his career at KPMG where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant, and remains a member of the ICAEW. He has a BA (Hons) in Politics and Economics from Durham University.
Alexander joined Calculus Capital in 2015, and has over 20 years' corporate finance experience, incorporating M&A, capital raising in both public and private markets, and other strategic advice. He spent ten years with Robert Fleming & Co, Evercore Partners and JP Morgan in London, New York and Johannesburg, where he advised the South Africa government on the hedge fund team of their incumbent telecoms operator. He was more recently a Managing Director at Pall Mall Capital. As a senior member of the investment team, Alexander's role is to source and execute new deals, as well as managing some of the existing portfolio companies through to exit. Alexander has an MA in Mathematics from University of Cambridge and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG.
Alexandra joined Calculus Capital in 2008. She specializes in the valuation of investment opportunities, focusing on the energy, life sciences and services sectors. Her recent projects include oil and gas exploration and production and synthetic biology. Alexandra is responsible for project management from proposal through due diligence to completion. Prior to joining Calculus Capital, she worked on the hedge fund team at Apollo Management International where she conducted research into companies and markets. She graduated from University College London with a first class degree in History of Art having previously studied Engineering Science at Wadham College, Oxford. Alexandra is a CFA charterholder.
Daniela joined Calculus Capital in 2016 and assists with financial modelling, primary due diligence and valuations. Prior to that she worked as an Analyst in a mergers and acquisitions focused investment bank Berkshire Capital Securities in New York City where she covered the financial services sector. Daniela's experience also includes product launch and supply chain consulting projects in the renewables and financial services industries in Africa. Daniela hold an MBA (Dist) degree from Oxford University and a BA (Hons) in Political Economy from Middlebury College in the US.
Matthew joined Calculus Capital in 2017 and works in the investment team. Prior to this, he worked at Aberdeen Standard Investments, joining the group's graduate scheme after university and rotating across various areas of the group, latterly working within the Pan-European equities team. Matthew holds an MA (Hons) in Economics from the University of Edinburgh, and has passed all three levels of the CFA Program and may be awarded the charter upon completion of the required work experience.
Vivek joined Calculus in 2019 and is part of the investment team. Prior to that he worked in a boutique investment bank in Mumbai specialising in capital raising transactions for private companies in the Healthcare and Technology sectors. Vivek's experience also includes working in the valuations and business modelling team at EY in Mumbai India. Vivek holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree from University of Oxford and a Bachelors in Engineering (BE) in Biomedical Engineering from Manipal University in In
Dominic joined Calculus Capital in 2019. Prior to this he was an Investment Director at Valtegra, a mid-market, private equity firm. He has over 20 years investment experience, including as an investment banker in both M&A execution and coverage across the industrials, transport, shipping and services sectors. He previously worked at HSBC, Nomura, KPMG, Citigroup and BDO. Dominic has a Masters in Finance from London Business School, an MBA from SDA Bocconi Business School, Milan and a BA(Hons) in economics from the University of Manchester. He is also a Chartered Accountant having qualified with BDO.
Ali joined Calculus in February 2019 as a Finance and Fund Administration Manager and now works in the Portfolio Management team. His main responsibilities involve monitoring the performance of Calculus' investee companies and assisting the Portfolio Management Director. Prior to joining he worked at Cinven Partners LLP as a Management Accountant. Ali has over 5 years' experience working in the private equity industry. Ali is a full member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and has a degree in Business and Management Accounting from Brunel University.
Natalie has over 10 years' experience working in private equity both in the fund operations and finance roles. Natalie is responsible for finance and operations at Calculus Capital. Until recently Natalie was Head of Fund Administration and she still overseas all areas of VCT fund administration, operations and reporting. Natalie also carries out the company secretarial work for the Company. Natalie is a chartered management accountant and holds a first class Bachelor of Law degree. Prior to this Natalie graduated with a Masters of Modern Languages from the University of Manchester.
The investment portfolio at the date of this document includes the following investments:
| £'000 | % | |
|---|---|---|
| Fidelity Sterling Liquidity Fund | 1,905 | 13.0 |
| Aberdeen Sterling Liquidity Fund | 1,882 | 12.8 |
| Goldman Sachs Liquidity Funds | 1,880 | 12.8 |
| Blu Wireless Technology Limited | 745 | 5.1 |
| Wazoku Limited | 542 | 3.7 |
| MIP Diagnostics Limited | 539 | 3.7 |
| RotaGeek Limited | 530 | 3.6 |
| Wheelright Limited | 515 | 3.5 |
| C4X Discovery Holdings Limited | 506 | 3.4 |
| Fiscal Technologies Limited | 500 | 3.4 |
| Evoterra Limited | 432 | 2.9 |
| Raindog Films Limited | 396 | 2.7 |
| Maze Theory Limited | 380 | 2.6 |
| Quai Administration Services Limited | 348 | 2.4 |
| IPV Limited | 345 | 2.4 |
| Mologic Limited | 301 | 2.0 |
| Wonderhood Limited | 275 | 1.9 |
| Cloud Trade Technologies Limited | 249 | 1.7 |
| Arcis Biotechnology Holdings Limited | 223 | 1.5 |
| The One Place Capital Limited | 222 | 1.5 |
| Generdrive Public Limited Company | 219 | 1.5 |
| Oxford Biotherapeutics Limited | 208 | 1.4 |
| Essentia Analytics Limited | 200 | 1.4 |
| Every1Mobile Limited | 197 | 1.3 |
| Open Energy Market Limited | 184 | 1.3 |
| Scancell Holdings Public Limited Company | 178 | 1.2 |
| Antech Limited | 167 | 1.1 |
Set out in the table on the previous page are investments which had a value greater than 1% of the company's gross assets by value and the 3 liquidity funds, investments are shown at the valuation in the unaudited management accounts as at 31 July 2020. The top 10 Investments with the exception of MIP Diagnostics Limited and RotaGeek Limited were included in the audited annual accounts of the Company for the year end 29 February 2020.
Since 31 July 2020, the Company made an investment in Maven Screen Media Limited. Maven Screen Media (Maven) is a media and entertainment development and production company, founded by experienced producers Celine Rattray and Trudie Styler. The founders have established track records for producing award-winning, commercially successful films with worldwide reach and top-tier talent attached. Their productions have launched and received prizes at Cannes, Sundance, and TIFF Film Festivals as well as Oscar®, Golden Globe, BAFTA, British Independent Film, and London Critics Circle Awards. Specifically, Maven recognises that women are underrepresented both in front of and behind the camera and is therefore dedicated to increasing representation of female content creators and female-centred stories. In August 2020, Calculus invested £2.05 million, which will support the company's multi-platform strategy: to maintain a strong film slate and expand into television and digital content.
Wazoku'ssoftware allows very large companies and organisations to capture and develop the ideas and innovations latent within the workforce. Wazoku's core product suite, "Idea Spotlight" provides the process and structure to capture, evolve, evaluate, develop, measure, select and implement the best ideas from internal or external stakeholders. The company has an impressive list of blue-chip customers including Waitrose, HSBC and MoD. Wazoku is an emerging leader in a market growing at close to 30% annually with a cutting edge product delivering real and measurable benefits to its customers. In February 2020, Wazoku announced a partnership with Innocentive, which has built a network of 400,000 subject matter experts to whom it reaches out to solve complex problems on behalf of corporate and governmental clients. Wazoku and Innocentive plan to create a new and improved product combining Wazoku's existing innovation platform with Innocentive's complementary network and methodology.
RotaGeek uses cloud-based technology and automatic scheduling to help multisite businesses manage and schedule staff to meet demand, drive efficiency and reduce costs. The tool uses machine learning to identify patterns which may otherwise go unnoticed and its apps make it easier for staff to swap and cover shifts and know when they are working. RotaGeek has established a strong position in the UK retail sector, working with High Street names such as Prêt a Manger, The Perfume Shop, Dune, Pets at Home and O2. The service is also expanding to healthcare. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 the company offered a three month free trial of the software to the NHS and wider healthcare teams impacted. The offer attracted significant interest from NHS hospitals and Trusts and was implemented across hospitals nationwide.
FISCAL Technologies is a world leading provider of forensic financial solutions and services to protect organisational spend. It incorporates unique forensics technology combined with machine learning and AI to reduce risk, fraud and compliances issues in the Procure-to Pay (P2P) function. Designed specifically for Finance, P2P, Shared Services and Accounts Payable (AP) teams, NXG Forensics has been developed from their own in-house expertise. Unique to AP optimisation, it employs machine learning to automatically adapt tests and logic to meet each organisation's specific data structure and processes. Sitting in the Cloud, it offers a secure connection to any ERP system to deliver results of AI generated complex analysis in understandable and easy to act upon dashboards.
Quai provides platform technology combined with back office administration services for the high-volume personal
savings industry. Quai's platform allows it to administer many thousands of individual savings plans at a fraction of the cost incurred by established insurance companies and wealth managers. In 2019 the Company established its own, internal technology development team. Previously technology and platform development was outsourced to third party companies. The building of the internal team has had a significant positive impact on the quality and speed of development along with a reduction in the overall cost. In Q1 2020 Quai applied to become FCA regulated. This will be an important milestone in the Company's development, providing the opportunity to expand the range of services, increase margins and reduce reliance on third parties.
IPV is a provider of media asset management software to the global broadcast, corporate and sports industries. IPV's proprietary software enables companies to access, store, modify, tag and transfer video content quickly and efficiently, significantly improving internal processes and creating more routes to market. IPV has an established, blue chip customer base in the media and broadcast industry, including Turner, Sony Entertainment, the Oscars (AMPAS) and Sky. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic IPV launched CuratorNow in March 2020. CuratorNow is a private cloud, remote editing studio for professional video editors and producers. Able to be deployed in days with no onsite work, CuratorNow allows creatives to work from any location.
Cloudtrade's software automates invoice handling for large enterprises, saving time, improving accuracy and reducing costs. Cloudtrade's software is primarily used to automate the accounts payable process, but the technology is applicable to any computer-generated document. With the rise of robotic process automation (RPA) systems, Cloudtrade's addressable market is expected to expand significantly. Cloudtrade has progressed well over the last year, winning a number of new customers and partners. Most notably in June 2019 the Company's solution went live on the SAP® App Center, the digital marketplace for SAP partner offerings and in December 2019 CloudTrade became available on the Blue Prism Digital Exchange. The integration of Cloudtrade into the systems of these leading technology companies is a key milestone and is expected to drive significant future demand for the Company's products.
Open Energy Market (OEM) has created an online marketplace on which corporate energy contracts are traded, introducing digital innovation into the antiquated, manual energy brokerage process in order to improve transparency and reduce energy costs for large energy users. The company has invested into its platform, developing new features to assist both new sales, upsells and customer retention, including bill validation and forecasting. The team focused on improving operational efficiencies and user experience in 2019 whilst maintaining the sales growth rate and evolving the technical architecture to be more modular and scalable led by a new Chief Technology Officer. As a result of COVID-19, some of OEM's customers have seen a marked decrease in energy usage (such as restaurant chains) but there has been an uptick at others (such as hospitals). With OEM's revenues directly corelated to energy usage this, along with a slowdown in new business wins, is likely to have an impact on this year's performance.
Every1Mobile (E1M) provides web-based services to drive social change in low-income communities across sub-Saharan Africa and other emerging markets. E1M's proprietary platform comprises a suite of mobile web products that are designed to cater for a wide range of devices, from smartphones to the most basic web-enabled feature phones and is optimised for both low bandwidth and limited data environments. These features are necessary to access the bottom of the wealth pyramid in sub- Saharan Africa and other emerging markets. E1M's clients and funders include Unilever, DFID, USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UN, the World Bank, ONE, Old Mutual, Mozilla Foundation and the EU. In light of COVID-19, E1M has launched relevant digital information and behaviours change tools in the fight against the virus in Africa, where social distancing will be extremely challenged in Africa's crowded cities and slums. E1M is engaged with a number of key funders, including DIFD and the Gates Foundation about the extensions of these tools.
MIP Diagnostics has developed a proprietary process for the manufacture of synthetic polymer alternatives to antibodies, known as Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) and nanoMIPs. The company develops and manufactures synthetic affinity reagents – small molecules that are designed to bind to specific target molecules for detection, purification or extraction purposes. The robust nature of the MIPs allows for a range of applications including point-of-care diagnostics, clinical and non-clinical in-vitro diagnostics (IVD), healthcare and bioprocessing. The global market for antibodies and antibody alternatives is growing rapidly and has been accelerated by the COVID19 pandemic, creating a sizeable demand for MIP Diagnostics to apply its innovative approach and depth of expertise within the IVD and life sciences industry.
C4X Discovery plc (C4XD) is a drug discovery and development company that uses cutting-edge software technology to design and develop drug candidates. Its proprietary patented software, Conformetrix, allows scientists to analyse accurately the dynamic 3D shape of potential drug candidates on the basis of experimental data, and to select the candidates that are most likely to bind to the required target and least likely to bind to alternative targets that typically cause unwanted side effects. The Company's second patented software platform, Taxonomy3®, identifies novel genetic linkages by examining datasets on certain diseases allowing new drug targets to be identified. The company has already had success in this area with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Parkinson's disease. There has been continued progress across C4XD's proprietary portfolio of 11 drug discovery programmes in multiple therapeutic areas including neurodegeneration, oncology and immunology; and the partnering process for C4XD's next key candidate, has launched with discussions to date confirming commercial interest in the candidate for the treatment of Sickle Cell Disease and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.
Mologic is a Point of Care diagnostics company developing a new generation of diagnostic devices to improve accuracy or target diseases for which Point of Care diagnosis is underdeveloped, with the first two products having received an EU CE mark. In addition to the product development pipeline, the company has a number of contract research partnering programmes utilising the team's core expertise in diagnostics development and novel analytical techniques. In March 2020, Mologic received £1m UK Aid to develop a rapid diagnostics test for COVID-19. Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Mologic's lab to witness first-hand the team using expertise and experience from previous epidemics to create a quicker and cheaper way to diagnose COVID-19. In April the company launched its COVID-19 laboratory based antibody test with its point of care rapid diagnostic test nearing completion.
Genedrive is a molecular diagnostics company developing and commercialising a low cost, rapid, simple to use and robust point of need molecular diagnostics platform. Genedrive's diagnostic platform is used for infectious diseases, pathogen detection and other indications. The Genedrive kit has received CE-IVD Certification and will be launched into Europe and other markets following full evaluation by the UK National Health Service. The Company has assays on the market for the detection of HCV, certain military biological targets, and has tests in development for tuberculosis (mTB) and antibiotic induced hearing loss in neo-natals. With the rapid global shift of healthcare to testing and treatment of COVID-19, the company has refocused part of its resources to the development of two SARS-COV-2 tests. The company expects continued global demand for tests and, ultimately, for rapid tests outside hospital environments.
Arcis Biotechnology is using its proprietary technology to develop products for nucleic acid extraction and preservation. Arcis has two DNA extraction products which have undergone significant external validation and received CE-IVD marks. Arcis' RNA products are at an earlier stage of development but have very exciting potential. In December 2019, the company appointed a new CEO, Nick Ecos, who has extensive life sciences experience. In January 2020, the company generated over £300k in product sales to the US military food and
safety testing specialist, Hygiena. The Company continues to look for opportunities to leverage and monetise its distinctive scientific capabilities in conjunction with a concerted focus on cash preservation, in a challenging COVID-19 environment.
Oxford BioTherapeutics (OBT) is a clinical stage oncology company committed to the discovery and development of novel therapies for various cancer types. OBT has a strong pipeline of immune-oncology (IO) therapies, which are used to re-engage and recruit the body's immune system to attack cancer cells, therefore providing targeted treatment strategies to patients most in need. Moreover, OBT has two unique development platforms to support the discovery of novel therapeutics. OBT has agreed multiple development deals, including with Italy's largest pharmaceutical company, The Menarini Group, as well as German pharmaceutical company, Boehringer Ingelheim. In January 2020, OBT announced the initiation of the dose-escalation portion of its US Phase I trial for OBT076, an experimental treatment for women with high-risk HER2 negative breast cancer, as well as other solid tumours expressing this target antigen. Although progressing well, the trial has developed slower than anticipated during the global lockdown measures.
Scancell develops immunotherapies to treat cancer and now COVID-19 based on its ImmunoBody®, Moditope® and AvidiMab™ technology platforms. SCIB1, the lead programme, is being developed for the treatment of melanoma. A phase 1/2 clinical trial has so far successfully demonstrated survival data of more than five years. SCIB2 is being developed for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and other solid tumours. Modi-1 is being developed for the treatment of solid tumours including triple negative breast cancer, ovarian cancer and head and neck cancer and a phase 1/2 trial is planned for 2021. The company is working in conjunction with Nottingham University and Nottingham Trent University on a vaccine for COVID-19. The approach uses Scancell's proven clinical expertise and approach (as used in the development of SCIB1) to stimulate both a T cell response and virus neutralising antibodies. T cells are thought to be the key to longer term immunity may give more potent and long lasting immunity.
Arecor is a leader in developing biopharmaceutical products via the application of its patented Arestat formulation technology platform. Using the platform, Arecor has developed its own portfolio of superior therapeutics, primarily focused on enabling improved treatments for diabetes via the innovative reformulation of already approved proteins and peptides. In December 2019, Arecor announced positive headline results for the Phase I clinical trial of its Ultra Rapid Acting Insulin product. In addition to its own portfolio of therapeutics, Arecor also partners with leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies, delivering to them reformulations of their proprietary products. Over the year, Arecor has announced multiple partnerships with major organisations, including collaborations with JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes research an Hikma, the multinational generic pharmaceutical company.
Blu Wireless provides the technology to allow data to be transmitted wirelessly at very high, fibre-like, speeds. Blu Wireless is addressing the challenge of building cost effective 5G networks, rolling out fibre-like broadband to businesses and homes, reliable connectivity on high-speed transport and low latency video streaming in the home. Blu Wireless' partnership with FirstGroup to deliver an end-to-end 5G solution to significantly boost the quality of connectivity on trains, has advanced significantly during the year. Blu Wireless has also made advances both in the fixed wireless access (FWA) market, where its UK Government supported Testbed in Liverpool has proved a valuable proof of concept, and other applications in the transport and military sectors. In February 2020, Blu Wireless, appointed Alan Jones, former CEO of Virtuosys, as CEO to lead the company during the coming commercial growth phase.
Wheelright designs and manufactures unique drive-over tyre pressure and tread depth measuring equipment. In mid-December 2019, Snider Tire Inc (Snider), a private US, tyre service and fleet solutions company – which had already ordered units - concluded a three-tranche investment agreement. A distribution agreement was also signed, giving Snider exclusivity to WheelRight's products in the US market. This alone serves to be transformational for the company with the added upside that it is free to pursue sales opportunities in all non-US geographies completely unfettered, with a target of non-Snider sales units constituting 50% of total sales. Following a successful trade show in Atlanta at the end of February, Snider placed an order for an additional 10 units, with the company purchasing the requisite components to manufacture these units. The subsequent onset of COVID-19 saw the disruption to the company's supply chain for several key components needed. However, the positive commercialisation outlook remains once a semblance of market normality returns with the easing of lockdown restrictions.
Money Dashboard is a multi-award winning, free personal finance management web and mobile app giving a view of finances in one secure place. The company's proprietary transaction tagging technology analyses the user's spending into categories, providing an automatically updating, consolidated view of their financial lives. With Open Banking finally becoming a reality, it is an exciting time for pioneers such as Money Dashboard as they seek to take full advantage of the many opportunities offered. Money Dashboard's principle revenue stream is based upon aggregating its users data on an anonymous basis to analyse consumer spending trends which can be sold to institutional investors and others. In March 2020, Money Dashboard won Best Personal Finance App at the British Bank Awards – an award the company had also won in 2017 and 2018.
Essentia Analytics is a FinTech company that applies behavioural analytics to improve the performance of fund managers. Essentia's proprietary software conducts a full algorithmic analysis, using machine learning of all past investment decisions, to identify each individual portfolio manager's behavioural biases. The software then continuously monitors their portfolio including individual stock performance and trading and creates proactive behavioural 'nudges' to help the fund manager improve his or her performance. Quarterly consultation sessions are also provided to reinforce change in behavioural trading biases at an individual and team level. Its customers include large US, UK and European asset management companies as well as hedge funds. Since the investment in January 2019, Essentia has grown revenues by 80% and won some impressive enterprise clients, including Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
Antech is both, a specialist engineering company manufacturing products for the oil and gas industry, and an oil and gas services company providing directional coil drilling services. There has been a concerted emphasis in the financial year on new product development, with focus on two key products: the downhole gauge and updated cable splice. Their addition to the product range is expected to underpin increasing market traction and sales growth. Antech has managed its resources, including cash, amidst both the oil price and COVID-19 shocks and remains optimistic about the prospects for both its businesses.
Raindog Films is a UK-based independent production company co-founded by Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth and former Chairman and CEO of Sony Music UK and Chairman of the Brit Awards, Ged Doherty. Raindog Films has produced an award-winning slate of premium filmed entertainment and has established itself as a leading producer of important films. Raindog has an extremely talented team with impeccable connections, providing the ability to attract the best talent to work on projects. The company's planned expansion into high end small screen content, where demand is booming, driven primarily by Netflix, Amazon, Apple and other streamers, will build on their platform of award-winning productions.
Maze Theory is a digital entertainment studio focused on the creation and development of immersive entertainment across multiple platforms, including Virtual Reality (VR), PC, Console and Mobile. Given advances in technology, and improved accessibility of devices, the VR market is scaling rapidly, with significant growth experienced in both hardware and games. In addition, the industry has seen vast expansion during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Maze Theory has established its reputation in this growing market with the launch of its first VR game – Doctor Who 'The Edge of Time'. The company is currently in the early stages of developing its next VR game, Peaky Blinders - The King's Ransom, which is due for release in late 2021.
Wonderhood is introducing a new hybrid model as a TV programme maker and advertising agency, supported by a third-party capability which provides data-led insights into audience behaviour. Wonderhood has an impressive team with a strong track record, assembled by former Channel 4 CEO David Abraham and senior partners from the advertising and television sectors. Wonderhood's TV production studio has won multiple broadcast commissions: a BBC2 documentary featuring Heston Blumenthal, which was broadcast in December; a social media biography of Donald Trump for BBC3; a cutting-edge medical sciences series for Channel 4; and a documentary series with Jeremy Spake for BBC1. Meanwhile, the company's advertising studio has won a number of competitive pitches, including Three Mobile, the telecommunications and internet service provider, Starling, the mobile challenger bank, and food giant Mizkan's creative account, focusing on advertising for the firm's food portfolio, which includes Branston Pickle and Sarson's Vinegar; it also recently worked with Nike on an initiative to recognise the contribution of black players to England's national football team. Wonderhood is uniquely positioned to combine its skills to develop, produce and distribute high quality long-form content that can reach audiences in new ways at a time when audience habits are changing radically.
Evoterra has purchased the entire share capital of Terrain Energy and MicroEnergy Generation Services. The creation of Evoterra optimises both companies' assets, creating a larger company with a focus on renewables rather than solely oil and gas. Terrain and MicroEnergy still exist as wholly owned subsidiaries of Evoterra and carry out the same trade as previously. MicroEnergy owns and operates a fleet of 138 Evance R9000 small onshore wind turbines (<5kW) installed on farmland in East Anglia and Yorkshire. Terrain Energy is an oil and gas exploration and production company. Terrain has secured a license to operate in Germany and has divested several of its non-core assets in order to support the development of its German venture in the mid-term.
The Company's aim is to exit companies within the VCT portfolio after a holding period of 3-5 years. Common exit routes include trade sale, sale to a larger private equity house or flotation. It is intended that profits made on the disposal of investments will enable the Company to pay future dividends, and to support this further, the Company may invest by way of loan stock and/or fixed rate preference shares as well as ordinary shares. In August 2016 the company sold its holdings in Horizon Discovery (a gene editing technology company), acquired in May 2013, for a 1.82 return of capital invested. In the following month, on 1 September, the Company sold its investment in Metropolitan Safe Custody (a safe deposit company), acquired in February 2012 for a return of 1.81 of capital invested.
On 7 August 2019, the company sold its investment in Synpromics Ltd, acquired in April 2017, with a return on investment significantly exceeding target returns. Synpromics is a market leader in control technologies for gene therapy. The Company has been acquired by AskBio, a leading US pioneer in gene therapeutics. Synpromics helps clinicians to target genetic cures for conditions such as haemophilia, liver disease and heart disease. The deal is further enhanced by the potential to benefit from future licensing fees on Synpromics existing portfolio of licences.
Audited financial information on the Company is published in its annual reports for the last three financial years as set out below. The Company's auditors for the year 29 February 2020 was BDO LLP and for the two years prior was Grant Thornton UK LLP. All auditors made unqualified reports under section 495 of the 2006 Act for each of these financial years, and such reports did not contain any statements under section 498(2) or (3) of the 2006 Act.
The annual reports referred to above were all prepared, and the annual reports for the Company's next financial year will be prepared, under FRS 102 in accordance with UK generally accepted accounting practice (GAAP) and in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) for Investment Trust Companies and Venture Capital Trusts produced by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC).
On 12 September 2017, the merger of the Company with Neptune–Calculus Income and Growth VCT plc ("Neptune") completed by means of a scheme of reconstruction of Neptune pursuant to Section 110 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (the "Scheme"). By way of implementation of the Scheme, the assets and liabilities of Neptune were transferred to the Company in consideration for the issue of new ordinary shares of 1p each in the capital of the Company ("Consideration Shares"). The total number of Consideration Shares issued to Neptune shareholders in connection with the Scheme was 2,511,180 at a deemed issue price of 87.66p per share. Following implementation of the Scheme, the capital of the Company as at 12 September 2017 consisted of 11,337,127 ordinary shares of 1p each of which none were held in treasury.
The Company's annual reports contain a description of the Company's financial condition, changes in financial condition and results of operations for each relevant year and those sections of the annual reports detailed below, which are incorporated by reference into this document, can be accessed at the Calculus website (www.calculuscapital.com) and are available for inspection through the national storage mechanism, which can be accessed at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism . Where these documents refer to other documents, such other documents are not incorporated into and do not form part of this Prospectus. Those parts of the annual statutory accounts referred to above which are not being incorporated into this document by reference are either not relevant for Investors or are covered elsewhere in this Prospectus.
| Description | Audited year end to 29 February 2020 |
Audited year end to 28 February 2019 |
Audited year end to 28 February 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statement of Financial Position | page 68 | page 58 | page 49 |
| Income Statement (or equivalent) | page 65 | page 55 | Page 46 |
| Statement showing changes in equity (or equivalent) |
pages 66 - 67 | pages 56 - 57 | Pages 47-48 |
| Statement of cash flows | page 68 | page 59 | page 50 |
| Accounting policies and notes | pages 70 - 85 | pages 60 -74 | pages 51-67 |
| Auditors' report | pages 58 - 64 | pages 48 -54 | page 40-45 |
This information has been prepared in a form consistent with that which will be adopted in the Company's next published annual financial statements having regard to accounting standards and policies and legislation applicable to those financial statements.
A description of the changes in the performance of the Company, both capital and revenue, and changes to the Company's portfolio of investments is set out in the sections headed "Chairman's Statement", "Manager's Report" and "Portfolio Summary" in the published audited statutory accounts of the Company for the periods stated.
The reports also include operating/financial reviews as follows:
| Description | Audited year end to 29 February 2020 |
Audited year end to 28 February 2019 |
Audited year end to 28 February 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Objectives | Inside front cover | Inside front cover | Inside front cover |
| Financial highlights | page 5 | page 5 | page 5 |
| Chairman's statement | pages 6 - 8 | page 6 - 7 | pages 7-8 |
| Manager's report/review | pages 10 - 11 | pages 8 - 10 | pages 9-12 |
| Portfolio Summary | page 14 | page 12 | page 13 |
| (Old Ordinary Shares) | |||
| Investment Policy | page 28 | page 24 | page 22 |
In the opinion of the Company its working capital is sufficient for the Company's present requirements, being at least 12 months from the date of this document.
The Offer will have a positive impact on the net assets of the Company by increasing its net assets by the same amount as the net funds raised and is expected to have a positive impact on earnings once new money raised is fully invested.
As at 31 July 2020, being the date of the latest available unaudited financial information of the Company, the Company has incurred no indebtedness, whether guaranteed, unguaranteed, secured, unsecured, indirect or contingent. The Company has the power to borrow, details of which are set out on pages 43 and 44, although the Directors have no present intention of utilising this.
The capitalisation of the Company as at 31 July 2020 was as follows:
| Called up share capital Share premium Special reserve Capital redemption reserve Capital reserve – realised Capital reserve – unrealised Revenue reserve Total |
Shareholders' Equity | |
|---|---|---|
| £289,147 | ||
| £12,918,765 | ||
| £7,841,649 | ||
| £57,267 | ||
| £(511,216) | ||
| £(1,058,741) | ||
| £(1,337,550) | ||
| £18,199,321 |
There has been no material change to the Company's capitalisation or indebtedness since 31 July 2020.
The objects of the Company are not limited by any provisions of the Memorandum or the Articles of the Company.
The Company's Articles currently contain provisions, inter alia, to the following effect:
Subject to any special terms as to voting on which any shares may be issued, on a show of hands, every member present in person or by proxy (or being a corporation, represented by an authorised representative) shall have one vote and on a poll every member who is present in person or by proxy shall have one vote for every share of which he is the holder. The Ordinary Shares shall rank pari passu as to rights to attend and vote at any general meeting of the Company.
The Ordinary Shareholders shall be entitled to receive, in that capacity, any dividends paid out of the net income derived from the Company's assets attributable to the Ordinary Shares.
The capital and assets of the Company shall on a winding up or on a return of capital shall be divided amongst the holders of the Ordinary Shares pro rata according to their holdings of Ordinary Shares.
The Company may issue shares which are liable to be redeemed on such terms and conditions as the Board may determine.
Shareholders shall have the right to receive notice of, attend and vote at all general meetings.
If any Shareholder, or any other person appearing to the Directors to be interested in any shares in the capital of the Company held by such Shareholder, has been duly served with a notice under section 793 of the CA 2006 and is in default for a period of 14 days from the date of service of the notice in supplying to the Company the information thereby required, then the Company may (at the absolute discretion of the Directors) at any time thereafter by notice (a ''restriction notice'') to such shareholder direct that, in respect of the shares in relation to which the default occurred and any other shares held at the date of the restriction notice by the shareholder, or such of them as the Directors may determine from time to time (the ''restricted shares'' which expression shall include any further shares which are issued in respect of any restricted shares), the shareholder shall not, nor shall any transferee to which any of such shares are transferred other than pursuant to a permitted transfer, be entitled to be present or to vote on any question, either in person or by proxy, at any general meeting of the Company or separate general meeting of the holders of any class of shares of the Company, or to be reckoned in a quorum.
Where the restricted shares represent at least 0.25% in nominal value of the issued shares of the same class as the restricted shares (excluding any shares of that class held as treasury shares) the restriction notice may in addition direct, inter alia, that any dividend or other money which would otherwise be payable on the restricted shares shall be retained by the Company without liability to pay interest; any election by such member to receive shares instead of cash in respect of any dividends on such restricted shares will not be effective; and no transfer of any of the shares held by the Shareholder shall be registered unless the Shareholder is not himself in default in supplying the information requested and the transfer is part only of the member's holding and is accompanied by a certificate given by the member in a form satisfactory to the Directors to the effect that after due and careful enquiry the member is satisfied that none of the shares which are the subject of the transfer are restricted shares.
The Board shall be entitled to make calls for the sums, if any, remaining unpaid on any shares, subject to the terms of allotment of such shares. If any call remains unpaid then the Board may, after giving not less than 14 clear days' notice, forfeit such share and sell or transfer such forfeited shares on such terms as the Board may determine.
The Board shall convene annual general meetings and may convene other general meetings whenever it thinks fit. A general meeting shall also be convened on such requisition or in default may be convened by such requisitionists as provided by the CA 2006. At any meeting convened on such requisition or by such requisitionists no business shall be transacted except that stated by the requisition or proposed by the Board. If there are not within the UK sufficient members of the Board to convene a general meeting, any Director may call a general meeting. The Board may make arrangements to ensure the orderly conduct of general meetings and to preserve the security of attendees.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the regulations on social distancing the Board is considering contingency plans for the 2021 annual general meeting (AGM) taking into account the evolving nature of the regulations and announcements from the Financial Reporting Council and the Financial Conduct Authority. Notice of General Meeting
General meetings shall be convened by the minimum period of notice required by the CA 2006. Every notice convening a general meeting shall specify:
The accidental omission to send a notice of meeting or, in cases where it is intended that it be sent out with the notice, an instrument of proxy or any other document, to, or the non-receipt of either by, any person entitled to receive the same shall not invalidate the proceedings at that meeting.
No business shall be transacted at any general meeting unless a quorum is present when the meeting proceeds to business but the absence of a quorum shall not preclude the choice or appointment of a chairman which shall not be treated as part of the business of the Meeting. Two persons entitled to attend and to vote on the business to be transacted, each being a member present in person or a proxy for a member or a duly authorised representative of a corporation which is a member, shall be a quorum.
If within 15 minutes (or such longer interval as the Chairman in his absolute discretion thinks fit) from the time appointed for the holding of a general meeting a quorum is not present, or if during a meeting such a quorum ceases to be present, the meeting, if convened on the requisition of members, shall be dissolved. In any other case, the meeting shall stand adjourned to the same day in the next week at the same time and place, or to such other day and at such time and place as the Chairman (or, in default, the Board) may determine, being not less than 10 clear days thereafter. If, at such adjourned meeting, a quorum is not present within 15 minutes from the time appointed for holding the meeting one member present in person or by proxy or (being a corporation) by a duly authorised representative shall be a quorum. If no such quorum is present or if during the adjourned meeting a quorum ceases to be present, the adjourned meeting shall be dissolved.
At any general meeting a resolution put to a vote of the meeting shall be decided on a show of hands unless (before or immediately after the declaration of the result of the show of hands or on the withdrawal of any other demand for a poll) a poll is duly demanded. Subject to the provisions of the CA 2006, a poll may be demanded by:
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 and in accordance with guidelines and recommendations from both FRC and AIC, to ensure the health and safety of company shareholders, the Company will adjust the format of annual and general meetings to comply with social distancing rules.
Subject to the provisions of the CA 2006 and to any special terms as to voting on which any shares may have been issued or may for the time being be held and to any suspension or abrogation of voting rights pursuant to the Articles, at any general meeting every member who (being an individual) is present in person or by proxy or (being a corporation) is present by a duly authorised representative, not being himself a member entitled to vote, shall on a show of hands have one vote and on a poll shall have one vote for each share of which he is the holder.
Subject to the provisions of the CA 2006, if at any time the share capital of the Company is divided into shares of different classes any of the rights for the time being attached to any share or class of shares in the Company (and notwithstanding that the Company may be or be about to be in liquidation) may (unless otherwise provided by the terms of issue of the shares of that class) be varied or abrogated in such manner (if any) as may be provided by such rights or, in the absence of any such provision, either with the consent in writing of the holders of not less than three quarters in nominal value of the issued shares of the class or with the sanction of a special resolution passed at a separate general meeting of the holders of shares of the class duly convened and held as provided in these Articles (but not otherwise).
All the provisions in the Articles as to general meetings shall mutatis mutandis apply to every meeting of the holders of any class of shares save that the quorum at every such meeting shall be not less than two persons holding or representing by proxy at least one-third of the nominal amount paid up on the issued shares of the class; every holder of shares of the class present in person or by proxy may demand a poll; each such holder shall on a poll be entitled to one vote for every share of the class held by him; and if at any adjourned meeting of such holders, such quorum as aforesaid is not present, not less than one person holding shares of the class who is present in person or by proxy shall be a quorum.
The Company in general meeting may from time to time by ordinary resolution:
Except as may be provided by any procedures implemented for shares held in uncertificated form, each member may transfer all or any of his shares by instrument of transfer in writing in any usual form or in any form approved by the Board. Such instrument shall be executed by or on behalf of the transferor and (in the case of a transfer of a share which is not fully paid up) by or on behalf of the transferee. The transferor shall be deemed to remain the holder of such share until the name of the transferee is entered in the Register in respect of it.
The Board may in its absolute discretion refuse to register any share transfer (as to which it shall provide reasons) unless:
Subject to the provisions of the CA 2006 and of the Articles, the Company may by ordinary resolution declare that, out of profits available for distribution, dividends be paid to members according to their respective rights and interests in the profits of the Company available for distribution. However, no dividend shall exceed the amount recommended by the Board.
Except as otherwise provided by the rights attached to shares, all dividends shall be declared and paid according to the amounts paid up (otherwise than in advance of calls) on the shares on which the dividend is paid. Subject as aforesaid, all dividends shall be apportioned and paid pro rata according to the amounts paid up or credited as paid up on the shares during any portion or portions of the period in respect of which the dividend is paid but if any share is issued on terms providing that it shall rank for dividend as from a particular date or be entitled to dividends declared after a particular date it shall rank for or be entitled to dividends accordingly.
All dividends and interest shall be paid (subject to any lien of the Company) to those members whose names shall be on the register at the date at which such dividend shall be declared or at the date at which such interest shall be payable respectively, or at such other date as the Company by ordinary resolution or the Board may determine, notwithstanding any subsequent transfer or transmission of shares.
The Board may pay the dividends or interest payable on shares in respect of which any person is by transmission entitled to be registered as holder to such person upon production of such certificate and evidence as would be required if such person desired to be registered as a member in respect of such shares.
Subject as provided in the Articles, the Board may exercise all the powers of the Company to borrow money and to mortgage or charge all or any part of the undertaking, property and assets (present or future) and uncalled capital of the Company and, subject to the provisions of the CA 2006, to issue debentures and other securities whether outright or as collateral security for any debt, liability or obligation of the Company or of any third party.
The Board shall restrict the borrowings of the Company and exercise all voting and other rights and powers of control exercisable by the Company in respect of its subsidiaries so as to procure (as regards its subsidiaries in so far as it can procure by such exercise) that the aggregate principal amount at any one time outstanding in respect of net moneys borrowed by the Group (exclusive of moneys borrowed by one Group (being the Company and its subsidiaries from time to time) company from another and after deducting cash deposited) shall not at any time without the previous sanction of an ordinary resolution of the Company exceed an amount equal to 25% of the value of the gross assets of the Company.
For these purposes only:
but do not include:
sterling at the rate used in the last relevant balance sheet or if not used in such balance sheet then at the then prevailing exchange rate selected by the Board.
A report or certificate of the auditors of the Company as to the amount of gross assets of the Company or the amount of moneys borrowed falling to be taken into account for the purposes of this article or to the effect that the limit imposed by this article has not been or will not be exceeded at any particular time or times or as a result of any particular transaction or transactions shall be conclusive evidence of the amount or of that fact the Directors may at any time act in reliance on a bona fide estimate of the amount of the gross assets of the Company and if in consequence the limit set out in the Articles is inadvertently exceeded, an amount borrowed equal to the excess may be disregarded until the expiration of three months after the date on which by reason of a determination of the auditors or otherwise the Directors become aware that such a situation has or may have arisen.
No debt incurred or security given in respect of moneys borrowed in excess of the limit imposed by the Articles shall be invalid or ineffectual except in the case of express notice to the lender or recipient of the security at the time when the debt was incurred or security given that the limit had been or would thereby be exceeded but no lender or other person dealing with the Company shall be concerned to see or enquire whether such limit is observed.
Unless otherwise determined by the Company the maximum number of directors shall be 10 and the minimum shall be two. The quorum for meetings of the Board shall be two and the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote on a tie.
The Directors shall be entitled to be paid fees for their services as Directors in such sums as the Board may determine from time to time but not exceeding £100,000 (or such larger amount as the Company may determine) per annum.
Each Director may appoint as an alternate Director either another Director or a person approved by the Board and to terminate such appointment.
As per the terms of their appointment, Directors shall retire at the first Annual General Meeting after their appointment. A retiring Director shall be eligible for re-appointment. A Director retiring at a meeting shall, if he is not re-appointed at such meeting, retain office until the meeting appoints someone in his place, or if it does not do so, until the conclusion of such meeting.
The Board may, provided the quorum and voting requirements set out below are satisfied, authorise any matter that would otherwise involve a Director breaching his duty under CA 2006 to avoid conflicts of interest except that the Director concerned and any other Director with a similar interest:
Where the Board gives authority in relation to such a conflict:
by the Board from time to time in relation to the conflict;
Directors are obliged to declare any material interest which they may have in any transaction or arrangement involving the Company. Such directors shall not vote or be counted in the quorum in relation to any resolution to any transaction or arrangement in which he is to his knowledge materially interested save that a Director shall (in the absence of some other material interest than is indicated below) be entitled to vote (and be counted in the quorum) in respect of any resolution concerning any of the following matters, namely:
If any question shall arise at any meeting as to an interest or as to the entitlement of any Director to vote such question shall be referred to the chairman of the meeting and his ruling in relation to any Director other than himself shall be final and conclusive except in a case where the nature or extent of the interests of the Director concerned have not been fairly disclosed
Subject to the provisions of CA 2006 and further provided that a Director declares his interest, a Director, notwithstanding his office:
The Company shall be entitled to sell at the best price reasonably obtainable any share of a member or any share to which a person is entitled by transmission if and provided that:
To give effect to any sale of shares pursuant to this article the Board may authorise some person to transfer the shares in question and may enter the name of the transferee in respect of the transferred shares in the register notwithstanding the absence of any share certificate being lodged in respect of it and may issue a new certificate to the transferee. An instrument of transfer executed by that person shall be as effective as if it had been executed by the holder of, or the person entitled by transmission to, the shares. The purchaser shall not be bound to see to the application of the purchase moneys nor shall his title to the shares be affected by any irregularity or invalidity in the proceedings relating to the sale.
At any time when the Company has given notice in the prescribed form (which has not been revoked) to the registrar of companies of its intention to carry on business as an investment company (a ''Relevant Period'') distribution of the Company's capital profits (within the meaning of section 833 of the CA 2006) shall be prohibited. The Board shall establish a reserve to be called the capital reserve. During a Relevant Period all surpluses arising from the realisation or revaluation of investments and all other monies realisation on or derived from the realisation, payment off of or other dealing with any capital asset in excess of the book value thereof and all other monies which are considered by the Board to be in the nature of accretion to capital shall be credited to the capital reserve.
Subject to the CA 2006, the Board may determine whether any amount received by the Company is to be dealt with as income or capital or partly one way and partly the other. During a Relevant Period, any loss realisation on the realisation or payment off of or other dealing with any investments or other capital assets and, subject to the CA 2006, any expenses, loss or liability (or provision thereof) which the Board considers to relate to a capital item or which the Board otherwise considers appropriate to be debited to the capital reserve shall be carried to the
debit of the capital reserve. During a Relevant Period, all sums carried and standing to the credit of the capital reserve may be applied for any of the purposes for which sums standing to any revenue reserve are applicable except and provided that notwithstanding any other provision of the Articles during a Relevant Period no part of the capital reserve or any other money in the nature of accretion to capital shall be transferred to the revenue reserves of the Company or be regarded or treated as profits of the Company available for distribution or be applied in paying dividends on any shares in the Company. In periods other than a Relevant Period any amount standing to the credit of the capital reserve may be transferred to the revenue reserves of the Company or be regarded or treated as profits of the Company available for distribution or be applied in paying dividends on any shares in the Company.
A special resolution sanctioning a transfer or sale to another company duly passed pursuant to section 110, Insolvency Act 1986 may in the like manner authorise the distribution of any shares or other consideration receivable by the liquidator among the members otherwise than in accordance with their existing rights and any such determination shall be binding on all the members, subject to the right of dissent and consequential rights conferred by the said section.
In order for the future of the Company to be considered by the members, the Board shall at the annual general meeting of the Company falling after the tenth anniversary of the last allotment of shares in the Company and thereafter at five yearly intervals, invite the members to consider whether the Company should continue as a venture capital trust and if such resolution is not carried the Board shall within nine months of that meeting convene a general meeting to propose:
The Board may make such arrangements as it sees fit, subject to the CA 2006, to deal with the transfer, allotment and holding of shares in uncertificated form and related issues.
The Company shall indemnify the Directors to the extent permitted by law and may take out and will maintain insurance for the benefit of the Directors.
The following paragraphs apply to the Company and to persons holding Shares as an investment who are the absolute beneficial owners of such Shares and are resident in the UK. They may not apply to certain classes of persons, such as dealers in securities. The following information is based on current UK law and practice, is subject to changes therein, is given by way of general summary and does not constitute legal or tax advice.
If you are in any doubt about your position, or if you may be subject to a tax in a jurisdiction other than the UK, you should consult your independent financial adviser.
The tax reliefs set out below are available to individuals aged 18 or over who subscribe for Shares under the Offer.
An investor subscribing up to £200,000 in the 2020/21 and/or 2021/22 tax years for qualifying shares in a VCT will be entitled to claim income tax relief, at the rate of 30%, although this relief will be withdrawn if either the shares are sold within five years or the investor takes out a loan which would not have been made, or would not have been made on the same terms, save for the acquisition of such shares. If an investor has sold, or if they sell, any shares in that VCT within six months either side of the subscription for the such shares, then for the purposes of calculating income tax relief on the shares subscribed for, the subscribed amount must be reduced by the amount received from the sale. Relief is also restricted to the amount which reduces the investor's income tax liability to nil.
An investor who subscribes for or acquires qualifying shares in a VCT (up to a maximum of £200,000 in each of the 2020/21 and 2021/22 tax years) will not be liable for UK income tax on dividends paid by the VCT. The income received by the VCT will usually constitute either interest (on which the VCT may be subject to tax) or a dividend from a UK company (on which the VCT would not be subject to tax). The VCT's income, reduced by the payment of tax (if applicable), can then be distributed tax-free to Investors who benefit from this dividend relief. There is no withholding tax on dividends paid by a UK company and, consequently, the Company does not assume responsibility for the withholding of tax at source.
A disposal by an individual investor of his/her shares in a VCT will neither give rise to a chargeable gain nor an allowable loss for the purposes of UK capital gains tax. This relief is also limited to disposals of shares acquired within the £200,000 annual limit described above.
except that any part of the gain attributable to the period for which the VCT was approved would be exempt.
(i) Initial income tax
If an investor dies at any time after making an investment in a VCT, the transfer of shares on death is not treated as a disposal and, therefore, the initial income tax relief is not withdrawn. However, the shares will become part of the deceased's estate for inheritance tax purposes.
Provided a number of conditions are met, the beneficiary of any VCT shares will be entitled to tax-free dividends and will not pay capital gains tax on any disposal, but will not be entitled to any initial income tax relief.
(iii) Transfer of shares between spouses
Transfers of shares in a VCT between spouses is not deemed to be a disposal and, therefore, all tax reliefs will be retained.
As a VCT, the Company is exempt from corporation tax on chargeable gains. There is no restriction on the distribution of realised capital gains by a VCT, subject to the requirements of company law. The Company will be subject to corporation tax on its income (excluding dividends received from UK companies) after deduction of attributable expenses.
To qualify as a VCT, a company must be approved as such by HMRC. To obtain such approval it must:
A qualifying investment consists of shares or securities first issued to the VCT (and held by it ever since) by a company satisfying the conditions set out in Chapter 3 and 4 of Part 6 of the ITA 2007 (a "Qualifying Company").
The conditions are detailed but include that the company must:
In certain circumstances, an investment in a company by a VCT can be split into a part which is a qualifying holding and a part which is a non-qualifying holding. VCT investments in companies carrying on business in joint venture are limited to £1 million in any rolling 12-month period in aggregate across the companies which are party to the joint venture.
A VCT must be approved at all times by HMRC. Approval has effect from the time specified in the approval.
A VCT cannot be approved unless the tests detailed above are met throughout the most recent complete accounting period of the VCT and HMRC is satisfied that they will be met in relation to the accounting period of the VCT which is current when the application is made. However, where a VCT raises further funds, grace periods to invest those funds before such funds need to meet such tests are given.
However, to aid the launch of a VCT, HMRC may give provisional approval if satisfied that conditions (b), (c), (f) and (g) in section 'Qualification as a VCT' above will be met throughout the current or subsequent accounting period and condition (d) in section 'Qualification as a VCT' above will be met in relation to an accounting period commencing no later than three years after the date of provisional approval.
The Company has received HMRC provisional approval as a VCT.
Approval of a VCT (full or provisional) may be withdrawn by HMRC if the various tests set out above are not satisfied. The exemption from corporation tax on capital gains will not apply to any gain realised after the point at which VCT status is lost.
Withdrawal of full approval generally has effect from the time when notice is given to the VCT but, in relation to capital gains of the VCT only, can be backdated to not earlier than the first day of the accounting period commencing immediately after the last accounting period of the VCT in which all of the tests were satisfied.
Withdrawal of provisional approval has the effect as if provisional approval had never been given (including the requirement to pay corporation tax on prior gains).
Breaches of the age restriction, no business acquisition condition, non-qualifying holdings condition and the investment limit condition mentioned above can each have the effect that VCT approval is withdrawn.
Non-resident Investors, or Investors who may become non-resident, should seek their own professional advice as to the consequences of making an investment in a VCT, because they may be subject to tax in other jurisdictions.
No stamp duty or (unless shares in a VCT are issued to a nominee for a clearing system or a provider of depository receipts) stamp duty reserve tax will be payable on the issue of VCT shares. The transfer on the sale of shares would normally be subject to ad valorem stamp duty or (if an unconditional agreement to transfer such shares is not completed by a duly stamped transfer within two months) stamp duty reserve tax generally, in each case at the rate of 50p for every £100 or part of £100 of the consideration paid where the total consideration exceeds £1,000 or if it forms part of a series of transactions where the total consideration exceeds £1,000. Such duties would be payable by a person who purchases such shares from the original subscriber.
Any subsequent purchaser of existing VCT shares, as opposed to a subscriber for new VCT shares, will not qualify for income tax relief on investment but may benefit from dividend relief and from capital gains tax relief on the disposal of his/her VCT shares.
Under the VCT Regulations, monies raised by any further issue of shares by an existing VCT are subject to a grace period of three years before they must be applied in making investments which meet the VCT qualifying thresholds although this grace period is modified in respect of monies raised after 6 April 2018, 30% of which must be invested within 12 months of the end of accounting period in which they were raised. However, to the extent any of the money raised (save for an insignificant amount in the context of the whole issued ordinary share capital of the VCT) is used by the VCT to purchase its own shares then this grace period shall not apply.
The above is only a summary of the tax position of individual Investors in VCTs and is based on the Company's understanding of current law and practice. Investors are recommended to consult a professional adviser as to the taxation consequences of their investing in a VCT. All tax reliefs referred to in this document are UK tax reliefs and are dependent on the Company maintaining its VCT qualifying status.
automatically cancelled as issued and the Articles were amended by the deletion of all references to the redeemable shares and the rights attaching to them.
2.5 The following resolutions, inter alia, were passed at the annual general meeting of the Company held on 4 July 2020:
2.5.1 That, in addition to existing authorities, the Directors be generally and unconditionally authorised pursuant to section 551 of the CA 2006 to allot Ordinary Shares having the rights and being subject to the restrictions set out in the articles of association of the Company and to grant rights to subscribe for or to convert any security into Ordinary Shares in the Company up to an aggregate nominal amount of £200,000 provided that this authority shall expire on the fifth anniversary of the date of the passing of this resolution save that the Company may before such expiry make an offer or agreement which would or might require Ordinary Shares to be allotted or rights to subscribe for or to convert securities into Ordinary Shares to be granted after such expiry and the Directors may allot shares or grant rights to subscribe for or to convert securities into Ordinary Shares in pursuance of such an offer or agreement as if the authority conferred hereby had not expired.
transferable.
2.11 Except as disclosed in this paragraph 2 (including pursuant to the Offer), and except for commission payable to authorised financial intermediaries in connection with the Offer, no share or loan capital of the Company has been issued for cash or for a consideration other than cash, no such share or loan capital is proposed to be issued, no commission, discount, brokerage or other special terms have been granted by the Company in connection with the issue or sale of any share or loan capital and no share or loan capital of the Company is under option or is agreed conditionally or unconditionally to be put under option. No shares of the Company represent anything other than capital, there are no convertible securities, exchangeable securities or securities with warrants attached to them currently in issue by the Company. No Shares in the Company are held by or on behalf of the Company.
Annual running costs include, inter alia, Directors' fees, fund administration fees, fees for audit, taxation and legal advice, registrar's fees, costs of communicating with Shareholders and annual trail set out below).
Assuming full subscription under the Offer (including the over-allotment facility), the Board estimates that the annual running costs of the Company will be approximately 2.5% (excluding annual trail commission) of its net assets (excluding irrecoverable VAT) in the first accounting period (calculated on an annualised basis).
. The Company does not have an internal audit function as all of the Company's management functions are performed by third parties whose internal controls are renewed by the Board. The need for an internal audit function is renewed annually by the Board.
Set out below is a summary of all contracts (not being contracts entered into in the ordinary course of business) entered into by the Company since incorporation that are material and all other contracts (not being contracts entered into in the ordinary course of business) that contain any provision under which the Company has an obligation or entitlement which is material to the Company as at the date of this document.
reason, it will be entitled to a performance incentive in respect of distributions paid during the period of five years after the date of termination, but the amount payable to it shall reduce pro rata during that period and no performance incentive will be payable in respect of distributions made thereafter.
As at 7 September 2020 (being the latest practicable date prior to publication of this document), no Shareholder had a holding of 3% of more of the Company's issued Shares. Under UK law, a holding of 3% or more must be notified to the Company.
No shareholders have different voting rights. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the Directors, the Company is not directly controlled by any other party and at the date of the Prospectus, there are no arrangements in place that may, at a subsequent date, result in a change of control of the Company.
The Directors recognise the importance of maintaining regular communications with Shareholders. Calculus Capital will accordingly publish information on new investments and the progress of companies within the Company's portfolio from time to time.
| Year end | 28 February |
|---|---|
| Announcement and publication of annual report and accounts to Shareholders | June |
| Half year | 31 August |
| Announcement and publication of interim results | October |
The securities being issued pursuant to the Offer are ordinary shares of one penny each (ISIN: GB00BYQPF348).
Shareholders will be entitled to receive certificates in respect of their Shares and the Shares will also be eligible for electronic settlement.
Copies of the following documents will be available for inspection during usual business hours on weekdays at the Company's registered office and available for download on the Calculus Capital website www.calculuscapital.com/calculus-vct
1. The contract created by the acceptance of applications in the manner herein set out will be conditional upon the Admission of the Offer Shares to the Official List of the FCA and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities unless otherwise so resolved by the Board. If any application is not accepted or if any application is accepted for fewer Offer Shares than the number applied for, or if there is a surplus of funds from the application amount, the application monies or the balance of the amount paid on application will be returned without interest by post at the risk of the applicant. In the meantime application monies will be retained by the Company in a separate application account.
2. The Company reserves the right to present all cheques and banker's drafts for payment on receipt and to retain documents of title and surplus application monies pending clearance of the successful applicants' cheques and banker's drafts.
3. By completing and delivering an Application Form, you (as the applicant):
(a) irrevocably offer to subscribe for the amount of money specified in your Application Form which will be applied to purchase Offer Shares, subject to the provisions of (i) the Prospectus, (ii) these Terms and Conditions and (iii) the Memorandum and Articles; and (iv) any document mentioned in paragraph (h) below;
(b) authorise the Company's Registrars to send definitive documents of title for the number of Offer Shares for which your application is accepted and to procure that your name is placed on the registers of members of the Company in respect of such Offer Shares and authorise the Receiving Agent to send you a crossed cheque for any monies returnable, by post to your address as set out in your Application Form;
(c) agree, in consideration of the Company agreeing that it will not, prior to the closing date of the Offer, offer any Offer Shares to any persons other than by means of the procedures set out or referred to in the Prospectus, that your application may not be revoked until the closing date of the Offer, and that this paragraph constitutes a collateral contract between you and the Company which will become binding upon dispatch by post or delivery by hand of your Application Form duly completed to the Receiving Agent;
(d) understand that your cheque or banker's draft will be presented for payment on receipt, and agree and warrant that it will be honoured on first presentation and agree that, if it is not so honoured, you will not be entitled to receive certificates for the Offer Shares applied for or to enjoy or receive any rights or distributions in respect of such Offer Shares unless and until you make payment in cleared funds for such Offer Shares and such payment is accepted by the Company (which acceptance shall be in its absolute discretion and may be on the basis that you indemnify it against all costs, damages, losses, expenses and liabilities arising out of or in connection with the failure of your remittance to be honoured on first presentation) and that at any time prior to unconditional acceptance by the Company of such late payment in respect of such Offer Shares, the Company may (without prejudice to its other rights) treat the agreement to allot such Offer Shares as void and may allot such Offer Sharesto some other person in which case you will not be entitled to any refund or payment in respect of such Offer Shares (other than return of such late payment);
(e) agree that monies subscribed for Offer Shares will be held for the account of the Company pending allotment of Offer Shares (which may not take place until several weeks after cleared funds have been received) and that all interest thereon shall belong to the Company and further that any documents of title and any monies returnable to you may be retained pending clearance of your remittance and that such monies will not bear interest;
(f) agree that all applications, acceptances of applications and contracts resulting therefrom will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, English law and that you submit to the jurisdiction of the English courts and agree that nothing shall limit the right of the Company to bring any action, suit or proceeding arising out of or in connection with any such applications, acceptances of applications and contracts in any other manner permitted by law or in any court of competent jurisdiction;
(g) agree that, in respect of those Offer Shares for which your application has been received and processed and
not refused, acceptance of your application shall be constituted by inclusion in an allotment of Offer Shares to you by the Receiving Agent;
(h) agree that, having had the opportunity to read the Prospectus and any supplementary prospectus issued by the Company and filed with the FCA, you shall be deemed to have had notice of all information and representations concerning the Company contained herein and in any supplementary prospectus issued by the Company and filed with the FCA and in any announcement made by the Company on an appropriate Regulatory Information Service (whether or not so read);
(i) agree that all documents in connection with the Offer and any returned monies will be sent at your risk and may be sent by post to you at your address as set out in the Application Form;
(j) confirm that in making such application you are not relying on any information or representation in relation to the Company other than those contained in the Prospectus and any supplementary prospectus filed with the FCA and you accordingly agree that no person responsible solely or jointly for the Prospectus and/or any supplementary prospectus or any part thereof or involved in the preparation thereof shall have any liability for any such information or representation;
(k) confirm that you have reviewed the restrictions contained in this paragraph 3 and paragraph 4 below and warrant as provided therein;
(l) warrant that you are not under the age of 18 years;
(m) agree that such Application Form is addressed to the Company, Beaumont Cornish Limited and the Receiving Agent;
(n) agree to provide the Company and/or the Receiving Agent with any information which either may request in connection with your application and/or in order to comply with the Venture Capital Trust or other relevant legislation and/or the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (as the same may be amended from time to time);
(o) warrant that, in connection with your application, you have observed the laws of all relevant territories, obtained any requisite governmental or other consents, complied with all requisite formalities and paid any issue, transfer or other taxes due in connection with your application in any territory and that you have not taken any action which will or may result in the Company, Beaumont Cornish Limited, the Receiving Agent or Calculus Capital acting in breach of the regulatory or legal requirements of any territory in connection with the Offer or your application;
(p) agree that neither Calculus Capital nor Beaumont Cornish Limited will regard you as its customer by virtue of you having made an application for Offer Shares or by virtue of such application being accepted; and
(q) declare that a loan has not been made to you or any associate, which would not have been made or not have been made on the same terms, but for you offering to subscribe for, or acquiring Offer Shares and that the Offer Shares are being acquired for bona fide commercial purposes and not as part of a scheme of arrangement the main purpose of which, or one of the main purposes of which, is the avoidance of tax.
4. No action has been or will be taken in any jurisdiction by, or on behalf of, the Company which would permit a public offer of Offer Shares in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than the United Kingdom, nor has any such action been taken with respect to the possession or distribution of this document other than in the United Kingdom. No person receiving a copy of this document or any supplementary prospectus filed with the FCA or an Application Form in any territory other than the United Kingdom may treat the same as constituting an invitation or offer to him nor should he in any event use such Application Form unless, in the relevant territory, such an invitation or offer could lawfully be made to him or such Application Form could lawfully be used without contravention of any registration or other legal requirements. It is the responsibility of any person outside the United Kingdom wishing to make an application for Offer Shares to satisfy himself as to full observance of the laws of any relevant territory in connection therewith, including obtaining any requisite governmental or other consents, observing any other formalities required to be observed in such territory and paying any issue, transfer or other taxes required to be paid in such territory.
5. The basis of allocation will be determined by the Company (after consultation with Beaumont Cornish Limited)
in its absolute discretion. It is intended that applications will be accepted in the order in which they are received. The Offer will be closed on 27 August 2021 (5 April 2021 in respect of applications for the 2020/21 tax year) or as soon as full subscription is reached (unless extended by the Directors or closed earlier at their discretion). Shares may be allotted notwithstanding that the Offer is not subscribed in full and the right is reserved, notwithstanding the basis so determined, to reject in whole or in part and/or scale down any application, in particular multiple and suspected multiple applications, which may otherwise be accepted and to allot Offer Shares notwithstanding that the Offer is not fully subscribed. Application monies not accepted or if the Offer is withdrawn will be returned to the applicant in full by means of a cheque, posted at the applicant's risk. The right is also reserved to treat as valid any application not complying fully with these terms and conditions of application or not in all respects complying with the application procedures contained in the Application Form. In particular, but without limitation, the Company (after consultation with Beaumont Cornish Limited) may accept applications made otherwise than by completion of an Application Form where the applicant has agreed in some other manner to apply in accordance with these terms and conditions. The Offer is not underwritten. The Offer will be suspended if at any time any of the Company is prohibited by statute or other regulations from issuing Offer Shares.
6. Save where the context requires otherwise, terms defined in the Prospectus and any supplementary prospectus filed with the FCA bear the same meaning when used in these terms and conditions of application and in the Application Form.
7. Authorised financial intermediaries who, acting on behalf of their clients where those clients are non-advised Investors (and an enhanced service has been provided in accordance with the extended prohibition on inducements under FCA rules) or where their client are 'professional clients' under the FCA Rules who have received only restricted advice, return valid Application Forms bearing their stamp and FCA number will normally be paid 2.0% commission on the amount payable in respect of the Offer Shares allocated for each such Application Form. In addition, provided they continue to act for their client and the client continues to hold such Offer Shares, such intermediaries will be paid an annual trail commission of 0.5% of the net asset base value for each such Offer Share. For this purpose, "net asset base value" means the net assets attributable to the Offer Share in question as determined from the audited annual accounts of the Company as at the end of the preceding financial year. It is expected that annual trail commission will be paid five months after the year end of the Company in each year. The administration of annual trail commission will be managed by the Promoter which will maintain a register of intermediaries entitled to trail commission. The Promoter shall be entitled to rely on a notification from a client that he has changed his adviser, in which case, the trail commission will cease to be payable to the original adviser and will be payable to the new adviser if one is appointed. No payment of trail commission shall be made to the extent that the cumulative trail commission would exceed 3.0% of the amount subscribed for each such Offer Share or in respect of any period commencing after the sixth anniversary of the closing date of the Offer. Financial intermediaries should keep a record of Application Forms submitted bearing their stamp to substantiate any claim for commission. The Receiving Agent will collate the Application Forms bearing the financial intermediaries' stamps and calculate the initial commission payable which will be paid within one month of the allotment.
8. Financial intermediaries may agree to waive initial commission in respect of your application. If this is the case then the amount of your application will be increased by an amount equivalent to the amount of commission waived through the mechanism of the Pricing Formula. Applications received before 5.00pm on 31 January 2021 will be entitled to a 0.5% early application discount. Existing Shareholders will be entitled to an additional 0.5% loyalty discount on applications received at any time prior to the closing of the Offer. All such early application and loyalty discounts will be applied through the mechanism of the Pricing Formula.
9. Where Application Forms are returned by you or on your behalf by an authorised financial intermediary who has given you a personal recommendation in respect of your application having first categorised you as a retail client under the FCA Rules, the Company will facilitate the payment of any Adviser Charge agreed between you and your intermediary, as validated by your completion of the relevant box on the Application Form. The amount of the agreed Adviser Charge will be facilitated by the Company making a payment equal to the Adviser Charge direct to the intermediary on the Investor's behalf which will be taken into account when applying the Pricing Formula to your subscription, and will reduce, the number of Offer Shares which are issued to you on the basis set out on pages 18 and 19.
10. There has been no material disparity in the past year (from the date of this document), nor shall there be under the Offer in the effective cash cost of Offer Shares to members of the public as compared with the effective cash cost of Offer Sharesto members of the Company's management (including its administrative and supervisory bodies) or their affiliates.
11. Where Application Forms are returned on your behalf by an authorised financial intermediary, the Promoter at its sole discretion will determine the Promoter's Fee applicable to your application for Offer Shares, subject to a maximum of 5.0% of the initial Net Asset Value per Offer Share.
12. Non-material amendments to these terms or to the procedure for making applications under the Offer may be made at the discretion of the Directors without giving prior notice to applicants.
Completed Application Forms with the appropriate remittance must be posted or delivered by hand on a Business Day between 9.00am and 5.30pm to the Receiving Agent. The Offer opens on 8 September 2020 and will close on 27 August 2021, or earlier at the discretion of the Directors. If you post your Application Form, you are recommended to use first class post and to allow at least two Business Days for delivery. It is expected that dealings in the Offer Shares will commence three Business Days following allotment and that share certificates will be dispatched within ten business days of allotment of the Offer Shares. Allotments will be announced on an appropriate Regulatory Information Service. Temporary documents of title will not be issued. Dealings prior to receipt of share certificates will be at the risk of applicants. A person so dealing must recognise the risk that an application may not have been accepted to the extent anticipated or at all. To the extent that any application is not accepted any excess payment will be returned without interest by returning the applicant's cheque or banker's draft or by sending a crossed cheque in favour of the applicant through the post, at the risk of the person entitled thereto.
The Board are pleased to offer all Shareholders in the Company the opportunity to participate in a Dividend Reinvestment Scheme (the "Scheme") administered by The City Partnership (UK) Limited ("Scheme Administrator").
The Company has a stated objective of paying annual dividends equal to 4.5% of the prevailing NAV of the Ordinary Shares per annum, subject to investment performance, availability of distributable reserves and the need to retain cash for investment purposes and annual running costs. Whilst the maintenance of dividend payments in the future cannot be guaranteed, dividends of this level have been paid in each of the last three years.
With the introduction of the Scheme, Shareholders may elect, instead of receiving dividends in cash, to receive New Shares, credited as fully paid, of the equivalent value. This is a simple, cost effective method for Shareholders to increase the size of their holding in the Company and to benefit from additional VCT income tax relief.
There are no costs applied to subscriptions for New Shares pursuant to the Scheme. Costs of subscribing under a public offer are often 5.0% or more and so the Board consider participation in the Scheme to be the most costeffective way of increasing exposure to the Company's shares and obtaining further VCT tax reliefs.
Participants will be eligible for the income and capital gains tax advantages available to shareholders in VCTs, in respect of the New Ordinary Shares subscribed under the Scheme, subject to their personal circumstances. In particular, investors who participate in the Scheme will be entitled to income tax relief at the rate of 30% on the amount reinvested for New Shares, so long as their total investment in VCTs, including these New Shares, does not exceed £200,000 the relevant tax year.
Legislation introduced by the Government in its 2014 Budget restricts income tax relief on the subscription of new VCT shares where an investor has sold shares in the same VCT within the period of six months before to six months after the subscription. Please note that this restriction does not apply to Shares subscribed for through dividend reinvestment schemes and so will not apply to New Shares subscribed for under the Scheme
The Scheme is being made available to all registered Shareholders in respect of their entire holdings. Beneficial Shareholders can elect to participate through their nominees. The Scheme is available to UK Shareholders only.
If you wish to participate in the Scheme, you can make an election using the election form or through The City Hub (in accordance with the procedures available at https://calculus-capital.cityhub.uk.com).
Nominees may make a partial election in respect of some of the Shares held in an account holding. A cash dividend will be paid in respect of the balance of Shares not included in the election. Partial elections can be made using the election form or through The City Hub and shall only apply to the relevant dividend for which the election has been received. A separate election must be made to participate in the Scheme for each dividend.
Shareholders who hold their shares in CREST can elect to participate in respect of a particular dividend either by completing and returning an election form or by providing an election through The City Hub. A separate election must be made to participate in the Scheme for each dividend.
If you have any queries, please contact The City Partnership (UK) Limited on 01484 240 910 (during normal office hours) or by email at [email protected]. Neither the Company nor the Scheme Administrator is able to provide you with any financial, tax or investment advice.
19.1 suspend the operation of the Scheme;
19.2 terminate the Scheme without notice to the Participants; and/or
19.3 resolve to pay dividends to Participants partly by way of cash and partly by way of new Shares pursuant to the Scheme.
25.1 agrees to provide the Company with any information which it may request in connection with such election and participation in the Scheme and to comply with legislation relating to venture capital trusts or other relevant legislation (as the same may be amended from time to time); and
25.2 declares that a loan has not been made to the Participant or, in the case of any Nominee Participant, the beneficial owner on whose behalf the Shares are held (or any associate of either of them), which would not have been made, or not have been made on the same terms, but for the Participant electing to receive new Shares and that the Shares are being acquired for bona fide investment purposes and not as part of a scheme or arrangement the main purpose of which is the avoidance of tax.
28.1 Up-front income tax relief of up to 30% will only be available on amounts subscribed in VCT shares up to an aggregate amount of £200,000 in any one tax year (subject to the Participant's income tax liability being reduced to nil).
28.2 A disposal of VCT shares will be subject to clawback by HM Revenue & Customs of any income tax relief originally obtained if such shares are sold within five years of issue. HM Revenue & Customs operate a first in, first out policy to shares disposed of.
28.3 Whilst it is the intention of the board of directors of the Company (Board) that the Company will continue to be managed so as to qualify as a VCT, there can be no guarantee that such status will be maintained.
33.1 acting or failing to act in accordance with a court order of which the Company and/or the Scheme Administrator has not been notified (whatever jurisdiction may govern the court order); or
33.2 forged or fraudulent instructions and will be entitled to assume that instructions received purporting to be from a Shareholder (or, where relevant, a nominee) are genuine; or
33.3 losses, costs, damages or expenses sustained or incurred by a Shareholder (or, where relevant, a nominee) by reason of industrial action or any cause beyond the control of the Company or the Scheme Administrator, including (without limitation) any failure, interruption or delay in performance of the obligations pursuant to these Scheme Terms and Conditions resulting from the breakdown, failure or malfunction of any telecommunications or computer service or electronic payment system or CREST;or
33.4 any indirect or consequential loss.
Arthur John Glencross Clair Olsen Janine Nicholls Jan Ward (Chairman)
Calculus Capital Limited 104 Park Street London W1K 6NF
Telephone: 020 7493 4940 Website: www.calculuscapital.com
urrent Auditors (appointed May 2019)* BDO LLP 55 Baker Street London W1U 7EU
Former Auditors (resigned May 2019)* Grant Thornton UK LLP 20 Finsbury Square London EC2P 2YU
Reporting Accountants Jeffreys Henry LLP 5-7 Cranwood St London EC1V 9EE
Registered Office
104 Park Street London W1K 6NF Telephone: 020 7493 4940
Company Registration Number 07142153
Registrars and Dividend Reinvestment Scheme Administrators The City Partnership (UK) Limited 110 George Street Edinburgh Scotland EH2 4LH
Receiving Agent Calculus Capital Limited 104 Park Street London W1K 6NF
Beaumont Cornish Limited Building 3 566 Chiswick High Road London W4 5YA
RW Blears LLP 15 Old Square Lincoln's Inn London WC2A 3UE
* BDO LLP were appointed as the Company's auditors following a tender that took place on 25 March 2019
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