Honeycomb spent £300k on failed PSSL merger talks

Honeycomb Investment Trust spent £300,000 on merger talks with Pollen Street Secured Lending (PSSL), before deciding against the deal on 3 September.

The merger costs were listed as a ‘one off item’ in Honeycomb’s August fact sheet.

During the month of August, as merger talks were ongoing, the trust delivered a net asset value (NAV) return of 0.87 per cent for the month, equivalent to 10.23 per cent per annum.

Honeycomb also confirmed that it “completed a new transaction in the month providing a senior facility to an SME lender secured on government guaranteed CBILS portfolio.”

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While the name of the SME lender was not revealed in the fact sheet, Honeycomb has an existing relationship with business lender Iwoca, which was accredited under the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) in May.

Honeycomb added that the CBILS facility is “attractively priced”, with protection from the 80 per cent government guarantee and the junior equity provided by the lender.

“The portfolio continues to perform well with the majority of underlying customer loans (both owned directly and financed through structured facilities) now out of Covid forbearance,” added the trust’s managers.

“We continue to keep a close watch over performance as tighter lockdown restrictions have been introduced again in the UK and the furlough scheme begins to be wound down.”

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