Press | Crystal Amber Fund

Crystal Amber, an AIM-listed activist based in London, also has support from rival fund managers. Aviva, Invesco and prominent investor Neil Woodford are among its established backers.

Crystal Amber has led campaigns against film studio Pinewood, chocolatier Thorntons and FTSE 250 landlord Grainger. Pinewood and Thorntons have since been sold. Sources say Grainger's shareholders encouraged activists to focus on the company, after growing tired of years of mediocre performance.

Crystal Amber has built a 3.4% stake in Grainger, and the company is undergoing a strategic review.

Richard Bernstein, who runs the fund, said he had forged strong links with large investment funds. "Some fund managers think they can effect change themselves. Others see us as an additional tool for getting an objective achieved. Other shareholders are often a good source of ideas. We are a catalyst for change." And for handsome profits.

The Telegraph

The surprise vote to leave the EU has left openings for activists, Crystal Amber has warned - Ben Martin

Companies have been warned to brace for a surge in investor activism in the wake of the Brexit vote, which has left many businesses vulnerable to bids from foreign buyers.

Guernsey-based fund Crystal Amber believes the result of the European Union referendum, which took financial markets by surprise, has "created a number of activist opportunities as companies are forced to adjust to inevitable changes".
Sterling plunged following the Brexit result and some companies have seen their share prices tumble. Richard Bernstein, Crystal Amber's investment adviser who spearheads its activist campaigns, said the June 23 referendum had left openings for fund managers to push for takeovers of British companies that are now cheaper and more attractive to overseas predators.

"What we had was companies getting 10pc cheaper overnight in dollar-terms," he said. "And we had share prices falling 15pc."

Those dramatic moves mean that "for those who have got the courage and can actually step in, there's an opportunity to buy good businesses at attractive prices," Mr Bernstein said, adding that activist funds will attempt to profit from the post-Brexit environment by acting as a "catalyst" for takeovers.

Activists like Crystal Amber buy stakes in companies and then push bosses to change the strategy of the business, sometimes encouraging them to seek deals.
The fund has recently been successful in agitating for change at firms that have subsequently been bought, including chocolatier Thorntons, which was swallowed up by Italy's Ferrero last year, and film studios business Pinewood, which was bought in July.

Sterling's drop following the referendum has already spurred a number of acquisitions, including the £24.3bn takeover of Cambridge-based chip designer Arm by Japanese telecoms giant Softbank and the £1bn hostile bid for private equity firm SVG Capital by US rival HarbourVest earlier this week.

Crystal Amber has recently turned its attention to struggling newspaper publisher Johnston Press. The fund held a meeting with Ian Russell, the company's chairman, earlier today but Mr Bernstein declined to comment on what was said, other than to say it had been "constructive".

He was speaking as Crystal Amber, a listed vehicle that owns stakes in companies including van hire business Northgate and landlord Grainger, posted a 8.6pc fall in net asset value (NAV) per share to 153.79p in the year to the end of June. It has received a significant boost since the EU referendum however, with its NAV per share surging by 23.5pc between June 30 and August 31.

Its total NAV at the end of its last financial year was £151.5m, down from £156.2m in 2015.

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INVESTORS CHRONICLE
Author: Simon Thompson

Shares in Aim-traded investment company Crystal Amber (CRS:166p) have been on a tear, rising by 12 per cent since I highlighted a glaring valuation anomaly when the price was 148p just over a fortnight ago ('Amber Alert', 4 Aug 2016). The share price has achieved my initial target of 166p, but I now feel that it could have a lot further to run and with good reason.

That's because the company's investment portfolio has surged in value since Crystal Amber published its monthly net asset value of 161.4p a share at the end of July and that's after accounting for this month's payment of a 2.5p a share interim dividend.

In fact, having run through the company's 10 largest holdings, details of which are outlined in the table below, I estimate they are currently worth in total 170.5p a share, or 15.2 per cent more than their end July valuation of 148p. The primary reason for this sharp increase is a major re-rating in the company's 15.6 per cent holding in Hurricane Energy(HUR:29p), the UK-based oil and gas group focused on hydrocarbon resources in naturally fractured basement reservoirs. It's a small cap stock my colleague Alex Newman is rather keen on, having recommended buying Hurricane Energy's shares at 13p ('Here comes the hurricane', 12 May 2016), and so too is brokerage finnCap which initiated coverage at 23p last week with a price target of 50p. Clearly, some clients of the broking house have been heavily buying.

To put this into some perspective, Hurricane Energy's share price has surged by 61 per cent from 18p to 29p since Crystal Amber's portfolio was last valued at the end of July, so is by far the company's largest investment and one accounting for 45p a share of its net asset value, rather than 28.3p a share at the end of July.

It's not the only invstment that has significantly re-rated as shares inRestaurant Group (RTN:420p), the chain behind eateries Frankie & Benny's, Chiquito, and Coast to Coast, have risen by 19 per cent since the end July portfolio valuation, and the holding in media group STV Group (STVG:362p) is up 12 per cent. Also, and as I flagged up in my previous article, a formal takeover bid for film studio Pinewood(PWS:562p) has been forthcoming. Crystal Amber holds a 5.7 per cent stake in Pinewood, worth 18p a share, so will shortly be holding 10 per cent of its net asset value in cash to provide ample firepower for new investments.

Investment upside potential
I would flag up too that there is significant upside potential in Crystal Amber's second largest investment, residential landlord Grainger(GRI:230p). The group has just issued a trading update for the 10 months to end July and one that makes for a good read.

Rents continue to increase on private rental sector (PRS) property and were almost 5 per cent ahead on new lets and 2.8 per cent up on renewals. In terms of the PRS development pipeline, Grainger has started or progressed with construction on a number of developments including Clippers Quay in Salford, Berewood and in Kensington and Chelsea. It was reassuring to see that Grainger has made £91m of sales in the year to date at prices almost 8 per cent above the September 2015 valuation and has a further £188m sales in the pipeline that have exchanged or are with solicitors. That's well worth bearing in mind because Grainger's shares are being rated 30 per cent below spot EPRA net asset value forecasts of 330p a share, a rating that seems completely out of sync with the operational progress being made and the solid asset backing. The holding in Grainger looks to have significant upside in my view.

Moreover, the 170p a share invested in its 10 largest holdings aside, a valuation which exceeds Crystal Amber's current share price, the company owns other investments worth a total of 13p a share as per their end-July valuation, and has net cash of 0.4p a share. So by my calculations, Crystal Amber's spot net asset value per share is around 184p, or a thumping 14 per cent above the end July valuation of 161p.

Trading 10 per cent below my estimate of net asset value, with the board using surplus cash to make net asset value accretive share buybacks to narrow the share price discount - the company has just appointed Numis Securities to make non-discretionary share buy-backs on its behalf during the close period - and with annual results due to be released on Friday, 9 September, I feel there is scope for Crystal Amber's share price to rise closer to 180p in the coming weeks.

So, having included the shares as one of the constituents of my 2015 Bargain Shares portfolio at 149.25p ('How the 2015 Bargain share portfolio fared', 5 Feb 2016), and last rated the shares a buy at 148p ('Amber Alert', 4 Aug 2016), I maintain that advice. Trading on a bid-offer spread of 164p to 166p, I rate the shares a buy.

Used under licence from the Financial Times. All Rights Reserved.

Publication: The Times

The name is still Bond, but the Pinewood studios that have made the Carry On and Cinderella films may be sold

The studios known worldwide for the Carry On films and the James Bond and Star Wars franchises could fall into Chinese or American hands after Pinewood Group erected a for sale sign in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire.

Pinewood, which has been home to British film production for nearly 80 years, has appointed Rothschild to conduct a strategic review of its business that could include a sale.

The company is listed on AIM and has not moved to the main market because nearly 80 per cent of its stock is held by three investors. Ivan Dunleavy, the chief executive, said that the shareholder structure was holding back its ambition to grow more quickly, despite a large investment in expanding its headquarters in recent years.

It is the second time in five years that the business has been up for grabs. John Whittaker, the property billionaire and chairman of Peel Group, agreed to buy it for £96 million in 2011, but the buyout was blocked after Warren James, the jewellery business, bought a large stake in Pinewood. Both still control big holdings, although it is understood that Peel, whose Goodweather vehicle owns 39 per cent of the studio business, is not planning to bid again.

Pinewood shares surged by 80p, or 18 per cent, to close at 530p yesterday, valuing the company at £300 million, providing a marker for what the business could be worth without the investor gridlock.

Richard Bernstein, who runs Crystal Amber, the activist fund that owns a stake in Pinewood, said that it probably would be purchased by a foreign buyer. It's very sad that this company will probably go to the Chinese, which is completely unnecessary.

Crystal Amber, whose investors include Woodford Investment Management, has amassed a 5.46 per cent stake, making it the fourth-biggest shareholder, according to filings.

Sahill Shan, an analyst with N+1 Singer, the broker, said: Given the trophy-asset nature of Pinewood, we envisage high overseas interest from media [or] property companies, especially Chinese or US players.

Mr Bernstein recently put pressure on Pinewood to oust Lord Grade of Yarmouth, the chairman, and Mr Dunleavy, whom he accused of running the company like a private members club. He said that the value of Pinewood shares could have hit £8 or £9 had the company listened to his views on cutting overheads and management costs to boost profit. It would have remained independent and a British company, he said, "but they wouldn't listen. Now the fight is to try and keep it as a British company."