Petershill Partners has announced a special dividend of 9 cents (7p) per share after a flurry of deals and a successful asset raising round helped the private equity firm return to growth.
The Goldman Sachs-backed firm, which floated on the London Stock Exchange three years ago, generated a total income of $146m (£111m) in the six months to June 30, up from $138m (£105m) the year prior.
It posted an adjusted profit after tax of $94m (£71m), up from $68m (£51m), helping it to an adjusted earnings per share of 8.5 cents in the first half of 2024. a jump of 2.5 cents (1.8p).
The solid earnings led the firms partners to announce a special dividend of 9 cents, which, they said, comes in addition to its progressive dividend and the tender offer they completed during the period.
Petershill completed four acquisitions totalling $205m (£155m) in the first half, including that of Kennedy Lewis Investment Management for $150m (£113m) as well as additional interests in three existing partner firms.
The spate of transactions comes after a testing period for the London-listed dealmaker, which posted a drop in earnings in 2023 due to a what it described as a “challenging external backdrop”.
Earlier this month, the firm also sold its stake in the hedge fund LMR Partners for $258m (£195m), in a move seen by many as a response to investors’ concerns about the accuracy of its asset valuations.
Shares in Petershill have traded at a discount of roughly 40 per cent to book value for much of the year.
Ali Raissi-Dehkordy and Robert Hamilton Kelly, global co-heads at Petershill, said: “During the first six months of 2024, we were pleased with our Partner-firms’ ability to raise $14bn (£11bn) of fee eligible assets, despite the challenging fund-raising environment.
“The robust asset raising and growth in Fee-Paying assets under management (AuM) has translated into good growth in gross management fees and fee-related earnings during the period.
“We also completed $205m (£155m) of acquisitions during the period, including a stake in the alternative credit manager Kennedy Lewis Investment Management which further diversifies our AuM exposure across private market strategies.”