Report May 2024
Pareturn Columbus class I is up +7.15% in May 2024 and +8.36% in the last three months. Since its inception in June 2008, Columbus class I has risen 153.8%, outperforming the European equity indices.
May was a positive month for Columbus. The Fund benefited from the takeover bid for Neoen, the French renewable energy company, with a premium of 27%. Neoen is the only position we hold in the power generation sector and has received a takeover bid from Brookfield, an infrastructure fund, and its largest shareholder. This is the second takeover bid for a Columbus company in recent months. In April, Salcef, an Italian rail infrastructure company was also bought by another infrastructure fund and the controlling family. It is not surprising that corporate activity in European midcaps is returning for two reasons: there are good opportunities in quality companies, and there is financing at acceptable prices for these deals.
We have also had a good evolution of relevant positions in the fund such as Siemens Energy (+29% in the month), Prysmian (+18%) and Befesa (+19%) and Kontron (+14%). In these three positions we had increased our position in recent months, it is satisfying to see how we are adapting the positions we hold in companies that we follow closely. On the negative side, the positions in Scor (-12%) and Kinepolis (-9%).
We have also reduced positions in Unicaja, Buzzi and Senior, as we consider that their share price already reflects the valuation we attribute to them. We have taken positions in 3 other stocks which we will discuss in future communications.
The takeover bids we have received in Neoen and Salcef are an indication that there is a lot of value in Europe. The stability of the euro is also a good reference, as are interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank. There are significant signs that investors are willing to invest selectively in Europe in good companies at very reasonable valuations. As the US public deficit becomes a problem for rates and currency, and the valuations of the US giants normalise, European companies will attract international investor interest.
The fund’s objective is to take positions in quality companies with good returns, and opportunistically in some cases to take advantage of market inefficiencies.
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Since May 2023, Spanish investors can access the Columbus strategy through the Spanish fund GVC Columbus European Equities FI. The Fund can be purchased through the AllFunds, Inversis and Fundsettle platforms. Columbus has a Master-Feeder structure. The Pareturn GVC Gaesco Columbus European Equity Fund in Luxembourg (master) and the GVC Columbus European Equities FI (feeder). The Luxembourg vehicle offers institutional and retail share classes denominated in euros and sterling.
