The Schroders BSC Social Impact Trust has raised £10.8m in a share placing, less than half of the £26m it said it could potentially raise earlier this month.
The firm will now issue 10.3m new ordinary shares, rather than the initially earmarked 25m. But FTAdviser understands it intends to raise additional funds in 2022 and has already seen indicative demand from investors.
The placing price of each share was 105p, according to an announcement published by Schroders today (November 18).
The trust's latest fundraise comes less than a year after its IPO in December 2020, when the trust raised £75m, which at the time fell short of its £100m target.
The trust’s chairwoman, Susannah Nicklin, said it had “made good progress” over the last 12 months since launching.
“[We have] made investments supporting over 100 front-line organisations and deliver[ed] attractive returns for shareholders,” she added.
The trust, which set out to deliver measurable positive social impact alongside long-term capital growth and income, was the first of its kind to list in London.
It came at a time when other trust launches were scrapped due to insufficient client demand, including the Liontrust ESG trust, the Tellworth British Recovery & Growth and the SDL UK Buffettology Smaller Companies trust.
As of June 30, the trust had deployed two thirds of its £75m IPO funds into 23 investments.
It intends to use the £10.8m raised to invest in “a near term pipeline of attractive opportunities” in line with its social impact objective.
These will include new and existing projects that assist, according to Nicklin, addressing “deep-rooted social issues, including homelessness, uneven health outcomes, rising income inequality and unequal life opportunities”.
Admission of the new shares is expected to happen on November 22, pending applications to the Financial Conduct Authority. Upon admission, the trust’s issued share capital will consist of 85.3m ordinary shares.
Owners of the new shares will receive all future dividends, save for the one declared last month which will be paid at the beginning of December.
Last month, Nicklin said the company intended to grow in time in order to increase the "magnitude" of its impact, increase liquidity in its shares and bring down costs for shareholders.
ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com
