23/06/2010 Author: Shannon Hawthorne

BlueCrest hurtles over share issuance target

UK-based listed hedge fund BlueCrest AllBlue Fund has raised over £348m ($516.6m) for its latest share issuance, more than doubling its original target of at least £150m ($220.8m).

The fund, whose latest rights issue represents the second largest asset raising undertaken by a listed hedge fund, is now the third largest in the sector, behind BH Macro and Dexion Absolute, with assets of approximately £808.7m ($1.2bn).

“The size of the fundraising demonstrates that there is still significant interest in the listed hedge fund sector, despite the growth of the Ucits III structure,” said Mark James of RBS Global Banking & Markets.

As of 21 June, all shares classes for BlueCrest AllBlue (£, $, €) are trading at premium to net asset value (Nav).
However, the listed hedge fund sector as a whole continues to trade at a discount (14% on average, according to data compiled by RBS), triggering a further round of continuation votes.

Decisions on the future of a number of funds, including Dexion Commodities, Absolute Return Trust and Cazenove Absolute Return, are expected to be made later this year.

Dexion Capital and Hoare Govett were appointed as joint bookrunners to the BlueCrest issues, with the latter also acting as sole sponsor.