HarbourVest holds June roadshow ahead of London listing

US-based HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE) will begin an investor roadshow on 15 June ahead of its planned listing on London's main market after the summer, HarbourVest associate director Richard Hickman told Private Equity International. 

On the side lines of the LPEQ Investor Conference 2015, Hickman said the private equity firm, which is already listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the London Specialist Funds Market, would talk to investors in London and Edinburgh.

The firm, which invests in primary partnerships, secondary funds and direct co-investments, is not seeking to raise capital but to reduce the percentage of US shareholders.

The firm's chairman Michael Bunbury noted in its annual report published on 28 May that its progress toward listing had moved slower than expected because more than 50 percent of its shares had been held by US investors, but this figure had now dropped to less than half.

JPMorgan Cazenove and Jeffries International are joint sponsors and Herbert Smith Freehills is acting as legal advisor on the listing that is expected in the first week of September.

Hickman previously told PEI that the objective of the listing was to “simplify the quote”.

The firm reported record realisations of $356 million (€320 million; £232 million) for the financial year ending 31 January 2015, as previously reported by PEI. Its net asset value totalled at $1.27 billion, with a NAV per share of $15.86 on a share price of $12.73 and a discount of -20 percent. HVPE shares closed trading on 2 June on Euronext Amsterdam at $13.25 a share.

When a panel at the LPEQ conference was asked whether it mattered where a private equity fund was listed, Maurice Tchenio, chairman and CEO of Euronext Paris-listed private equity fund Altamir Gérance, commented that shares in Altamir traded at a discount because they were not listed in London.

“It does matter. We are not listed in London or in sterling and most investors are London-based and they like sterling, even if you're in Euronext. If you are not in sterling, it is an additional burden.”