NB Private Equity Partners (NBPE) has doubled its share buyback programme to $240m (£178m) as the £612m co-investor in unquoted companies intensifies efforts to narrow its wide discount and improve shareholder returns.
The Guernsey investment company, which with the help of New York-based Neuberger invests directly in companies alongside leading private equity managers, yesterday said it had so far bought back $88m of shares since allocating $120m (£89m) to a three-year programme of buy backs in February last year.
In doing so NBPE said it had fulfilled a promise to speed up the pace of share purchases made in November when just $37.9m of shares had been repurchased.
Despite more than doubling buybacks since then, NBPE shares continue to trail close to a 28% discount below the net asset value (NAV) of its investments, which include a top 6% holding in discount retailer Action which it invests in alongside 3i Group (III).
Chair William Maltby said NBPE’s share price undervalued the portfolio of 72 companies and represented a “compelling investment” at the current level.
“Our accelerated buyback programme continues at pace with $88m deployed since the beginning of 2025. We are today allocating a further $120m towards share buybacks, taking total capital allocated to the share buyback programme over the last 15 months to $240m, or 19% of opening NAV,” he said.
News of the increase in buybacks came as NBPE confirmed it made invested $104m into six investments this year as it seeks to balance returning capital with the need to support the portfolio’s future returns.
Four of these were mid-life co-investments offering significant long-term returns, it said, adding that new investments in the past two years had delivered 20% average returns so far.
“Addressing NBPE’s share price discount to NAV remains a priority for the board and Neuberger. We remain focused on driving stronger NAV growth, which we believe will narrow the company’s discount and drive sustainable share price growth over time, enhancing shareholder total return. We continue to explore opportunities to drive performance and deliver shareholder value,” Maltby added.
With dividends included, NBPE has returned $152m since the start of last year. The company has paid semi-annual dividends since 2013 with the aim of yielding at least 3%. Over $420m has been distributed to shareholders this way. NBPE shares currently yield 3.5%.
NBPE’s move comes as rival London-listed private equity funds step up their efforts to narrow discounts. Under pressure from activist investors, HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE) announced plans in April for a $400m tender offer to secure support for its first continuation vote next month. Last month Pantheon International (PIN) sold $300m of fund investments to boost its pace of buybacks. HVPE and PIN stand on 23% and 20.5% discounts respectively.
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