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British investment trust From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
AVI Global Trust is a London-based British investment trust. The company is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.[2] The chairman is Graham Kitchen.[3]
| |
| Formerly | Transvaal Mortgage Loan and Finance Company (1889–1906) British Empire Land Mortgage and Loan Company (1906–1964) British Empire Securities and General Trust Limited (1964–2015) British Empire Trust (2015–2019) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public company |
| Industry | Investment Management |
| Founded | 6 February 1889 in London, UK |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Graham Kitchen (Chairman) Joe Bauernfreund (Investment Manager) |
| AUM |  GBP £1.3 Billion (July 2024)[1] |
| Website | Official website |
The company was established in 1889 as the Transvaal Mortgage Loan and Finance Company,[4] led by chairman W.J. Thompson,[5] and invested in what is now South Africa.[4]
It was renamed the British Empire Land Mortgage and Loan Company in 1906, and British Empire Securities and General Trust in 1964.[6]
Asset Value Investors, an employee-owned management company, was established to manage the firm, then valued at £6 million, in 1985.[7]
The company's goal of acquiring other companies trading below their Net Asset Value led it to attempt takeovers of other investment trusts trading at a discount.[4] In 1986, the company acquired Ashdown Investment Trust for £66 million.[8] In 1989, it mounted a hostile takeover bid for Schroder Global Trust: it had been building up a stake in the target company over a two-year period.[9] In 1995, it acquired the Selective Assets Trust (formerly the Edinburgh Assets Trust)[10] for £42 million.[8]
It simplified its name from British Empire Securities and General Trust to British Empire Trust in 2015.[6]
In 2016, the activist US hedge fund, Elliott Management Corporation, built up a large stake in the company.[11][12][13][14] The investment was seen as one of Elliott's successful investment positions in the UK.[15]
It changed its name from British Empire Trust to AVI Global Trust in May 2019.[16][17]
Between 2019 and 2020, the company invested heavily in SoftBank Group and other Japanese stocks.[18] The company's strategy has been to take advantage of Softbank's share buyback programme.[19][20] This has supported the company's market capitalisation on the London Stock Exchange which was £751 million in July 2020.[21] It has also built up a significant holding in Pershing Square Holdings, a hedge fund.[22]
AVI became signatories of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in April 2021.[23]
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