CT Private Equity Trust : Quarterly Report

CT

Private

Equity

Trust PLC

Quarterly Report

31 March 2024

CT Private Equity Trust PLC

Company Overview

The Company

CT Private Equity Trust PLC ("the Company") is an investment trust and its Ordinary Shares are traded on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.

Objective and Investment Policy

The Company's objective is to achieve long-term capital growth through investment in private equity assets, whilst providing shareholders with a predictable and above average level of dividend funded from a combination of the Company's revenue and realised capital profits.

Dividend Policy

The Company aims to pay quarterly dividends with an annual yield equivalent to not less than four per cent of the average of the published net asset values per Ordinary Share as at the end of each of its last four financial quarters prior to the announcement of the relevant quarterly dividend or, if higher, equal (in terms of pence per share) to the highest quarterly dividend previously paid. All quarterly dividends will be paid as interim dividends. The interim dividends payable in respect of the quarters ended 31 March, 30 June, 30 September

and 31 December are expected to be paid in the following July, October, January and April respectively.

Management

The Company's investment manager, Columbia Threadneedle Investment Business Limited ("the Manager") is part of Columbia Threadneedle Investments.

The ultimate parent company of Columbia Threadneedle Investments is Ameriprise Financial, Inc.

Net Assets as at 31 March 2024

£498.7 million

Capital Structure as at 31 March 2024

72,752,938 Ordinary Shares of 1 pence, each entitled to one vote at a general meeting. In addition, the Company has 1,188,491 shares held in treasury. Following the period end, a further 1,250,000 shares were bought back and placed in treasury.

Visit our website at www.ctprivateequitytrust.com

2 | CT Private Equity Trust PLC

Overview

Financial Highlights

-1.4%	NAV total return
NAV total return per Ordinary Share for the three month period ended 31 March

2024 of -1.4 per cent.

Share price total return

-4.6% Share price total return for the three month period ended 31 March 2024 of -4.6 per cent for the Ordinary Shares.

7.01p	First Quarterly Dividend for 2024
on 31 July 2024.
	Quarterly dividend of 7.01p per Ordinary Share payable

6.4% Yield

Dividend yield of 6.4 per cent based on the period end share price$.

$ Calculated as dividends of 7.01p paid on 31 October 2023, 7.01p paid on 31 January 2024, 7.01p paid on 30 April 2024 and 7.01p payable on 31 July 2024 divided by the Company's share price of 440.0p as at 31 March 2024.

Quarterly Report 31 March 2024 | 3

CT Private Equity Trust PLC

Summary of Performance

		Three months ended	Year ended
Total Returns for the Period*		31 March 2024	31 December 2023	% change
Net asset value per Ordinary Share	-1.4%	+2.8%
Ordinary Share price	-4.6%	+17.6%
		As at	As at
		31 March 2024	31 December 2023	% change
Capital Values
Net assets (£'000)		498,690	511,093	-2.4%
Net asset value per Ordinary Share		685.46p	702.50p	-2.4%
Ordinary Share price		440.0p	468.0p	-6.0%
Discount to net asset value		35.8%	33.4%
Income
Revenue return after taxation (£'000)		76	1,341
Revenue return per Ordinary Share		0.10p	1.84p
Gearing†		16.6%	14.6%
Future commitments (£'000)		205,046	209,308

• Total return is the combined effect of any dividends paid, together with the rise or fall in the net asset value per Ordinary Share or share price. Any dividends are assumed to have been re-invested in either the Company at net asset value or share price.

† Borrowings less cash ÷ total assets less current liabilities (excluding borrowings and cash).

Sources: Columbia Threadneedle Investment Business Limited and Refinitive Eikon

4 | CT Private Equity Trust PLC

The Longer Term Rewards

CT Private Equity Trust PLC

Ordinary Share NAV and Share Price Total Returns versus FTSE All Share Total Return

400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Mar-14	Mar-15	Mar-16	Mar-17	Mar-18	Mar-19	Mar-20	Mar-21	Mar-22	Mar-23	Mar-24

FTSE All Share total return		Ordinary Share NAV total return				Ordinary Share Price total return	Source: Columbia Threadneedle Investment Business Limited

Manager's Review

Introduction

As at 31 March 2024 the net assets of the Company were £498.7 million giving a Net Asset Value ("NAV") per share of 685.46p, which taking into account the dividend of 7.01p paid on 31 January 2024 gives a total return of -1.4% for the first quarter. This valuation comes only a few weeks after the full year valuation and is largely composed of 31 December 2023 valuations with only approximately 6% of valuations struck at 31 March 2024. This is in line with the proportions in previous years. There has been minimal influence of currency on the valuation this quarter.

The share price total return over the quarter was -4.6%.

At 31 March 2024 the Company had net debt of £99.1 million. The outstanding undrawn commitments are £205 million of which £23 million is to funds where the investment period has expired.

A dividend of 7.01p was paid on 30 April 2024. In accordance with the Company's dividend policy the next dividend will be 7.01p which will be paid on 31 July 2024 to shareholders on the register on 5 July 2024 with an ex-dividend date of 4 July 2024.

New Investments

Four new fund commitments were made during the quarter.

£6 million has been committed to Corran Environmental II, a UK lower mid-market growth fund with a focus on clean energy and environmental companies. Corran is led by former SEP partner Gary Le Sueur and continues with a similar strategy to SEP's Environmental Energies Fund which he led. Indeed the initial asset for the fund, Vital Energi, has been acquired from the Environmental Energies Fund. Vital is a district heating and energy efficiency specialist which also owns and operates an energy-from-waste plant at Drakelow in Derbyshire. The initial drawdown covering Vital was £2.8 million.

€5.0 million has been committed to the Agilitas Human Investment Fund. We have invested with Agilitas both through funds and co-investments several times over the years. The Human Investment Fund has an explicit investment objective of helping people that are disadvantaged or in need. It is an article 9 fund under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.

€4.0 million has been committed to ARCHIMED MED Rise. ARCHIMED is the leading France based healthcare specialist with whom we have invested several times. This fund targets buy-outs of small healthcare businesses operating within attractive niches.

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CT Private Equity Trust PLC

Manager's Review (continued)

Lastly, we have finalised our commitment to August Equity VI, the latest in a series of commitments to this accomplished lower mid-market UK buy-out specialist. We have committed £10 million to this fund.

There have been no new co-investments this quarter but there were three significant follow-on investments to existing investments.

£4.1 million has been added to Contained Air Solutions, the Manchester based manufacturer of microbiological safety cabinets. The new investment is to fund two complementary acquisitions. Amercare is a UK based designer and supplier of isolators for medical and pharmaceutical applications, including products which address higher growth subsectors including cell therapy and radiopharmacy. Biospherix is a US based niche provider of cleanroom grade containment solutions aimed at the cell therapy market. These products control the environmental conditions to optimise cell health and reproducibility.

£2.2 million has been called by deal leader Persistence Capital for Medspa, the Canada based chain of aesthetics clinics to finance three acquisitions.

£0.7 million has been added to Aurora Payments Solutions, the US based digital payments solution provider for over 20,000 merchants across the USA in sectors including hospitality, transport and hotel sectors. This additional amount is our share of a deferred consideration agreement and will be used to fund several add-on acquisitions that are well progressed.

The funds in the portfolio were active over the period with a number of interesting new investments initiated internationally.

Our UK based funds made a number of new investments with a technology or scientific theme.

SEP VI invested a combined £1.6 million in Braincube, the France based internet of industrial things software company which specialises in optimising manufacturing processes, and Cora, an Irish software company specialising in project management software for the aerospace, defence, healthcare and life sciences sectors.

Kester Capital III called £0.7 million mainly for GXP Exchange, a leading provider of good clinical/pharmacovigilance practice audit and related consulting services to the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.

FPE called £0.5 million for Vanda a provider of research and data to hedge funds and investment banks.

MVM IV called £1.4 million for three healthcare companies with innovative products; Bioprotect (biodegradable products which help with the treatment of prostate cancer), Gynesonics (minimally invasive medical devices for the treatment of uterine fibroids) and Isotec (carbon composite implants for the treatment of cancer of the spine).

In Continental Europe and the USA there were also some interesting new investments.

Corsair VI, the financial services specialists called £1.1 million for MJM, a leading independent commercial insurance broker in Poland. Also in Poland Avallon III called £0.6 million for MPPK a dog and cat food company.

In Germany and Sweden Verdane Edda III called £0.6 million for two companies; Hornet Security (B2B cloud-based email security products) and Verified Global (B2B SaaS for digitising business processes around identification and authorisation).

In Italy Wisequity VI called £0.7 million for Serbios a leading Italian biocontrols company (providing biological alternatives to pesticides and agrochemicals). This is the first acquisition within Greenexta, a newly established buy-and-build platform for natural solutions for agriculture.

Lastly in the USA MidOcean VI called £0.5 million for two companies; MPearlRock (consumer products) and ReSourcing (staffing and consulting for the finance, compliance and IT sectors).

The total drawn for new investments by funds and co- investments in the quarter was £23.4 million.

Realisations

Despite the market having slowed down considerably there were a number of realisations and associated distributions. These came from a wide range of sectors and geographies.

August Equity IV returned £3.5 million through the sale of Agilio the healthcare compliance software company achieving an exceptional return of 9.2x cost and an IRR of 72%.

Graycliff IV returned £2.4 million through the sale of EMC, a switches and transformers manufacturer, achieving another exceptional outcome of 8.2x cost and an IRR of 146%. This was a relatively short hold of only two and a half years.

Bencis V returned £1.9 million with the sale of Kooi, the mobile security systems company. This also represented an exceptional return of 13.9x cost and 61% IRR.

Summa I returned £1.7 million through the sale of Pagero, a procure to pay software as a service company, to Thomson Reuters. This represented 5.6x cost.

Montefiore IV returned £2.5 million with the sale to a continuation vehicle of two of its holdings; EDG (digital services for French companies) and Groupe Premium (life and pension insurance broker).

Avallon MBO II Fund made a final distribution of £1.4 million with the sale of ORE (consulting and IT solutions for purchasing managers) and escrows from Novotech (Polymer products).

The total for realisations and associated income in the quarter was £16.1 million.

Following the quarter end the proceeds from the sale of Jollyes, the large format pet retailer, which has been acquired by TDR Capital were received. These amounted to £18.3 million which

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Manager's Review

Manager's Review (continued)

represented an excellent 3.9x cost and an IRR of 27%. During the six year hold the deal lead, Kester Capital, worked with the company's management to transform the business with a doubling of EBITDA to £11 million and an increase in the store estate from 64 to 100, firmly establishing the company as the clear number 2 pet retailer in the UK.

Also following the quarter end we received the proceeds for the sale of well bore plug and abandonment business Coretrax which has been sold to listed energy services group Expro. The consideration for the company is a combination of shares in Expro and cash. The cash component is 24% (£3.4 million) of the £13.9 million exit value. Whilst there is further upside potential through the Expro shares, the current multiple of cost is 1.8x and the IRR is 12%. Given the turbulence in the Energy sector in recent years this is a fair outcome.

Valuation Changes

There have been a few notable movements in valuation this quarter, although without the 31 March reports available these have been limited. Jollyes, the pet shop chain led by Kester is up by £1.4 million reflecting strong trading performance. The combined TDR funds were up £1.4 million, as the remaining holding of shares in Target Hospitality increased in price. The Italian sub portfolio is up by £1.1 million mainly due to an uplift for ultra high-end furniture company Giorgetti. Other notable positives are from Kester Capital II, which is up by £0.9 million following the exit of Vixio noted above and Apiary I which is up by £0.8 million reflecting progress across the portfolio and including a superb recovery for TAG, the travel management company to the global live music and entertainment touring industry. TAG is now trading strongly, well up from the nadir of the pandemic. There were a few negative movements, with for example Agilitas 2015 down £1.1 million reflecting a, hopefully, temporary portfolio company downgrade and follow- on. Corsair VI was down by £0.5 million as it experiences the J-curve effect as it builds out its portfolio. TWMA is down £0.3 million as forecasts, which remain encouraging, are taking longer to materialise. In summary, in a usually quiet quarter for valuation movements the portfolio has held up well as would be expected at this stage in the year.

Financing

At the quarter end net debt was £99.1 million. This is a perfectly manageable level and leaves us with over £45 million of headroom on our recently renewed banking facility. Following receipt of the Jollyes proceeds and payment of dividends, performance fee, share buy-backs and completion of drawdowns and further realisations the net debt at the time of writing is around £95 million.

Following the quarter end the Company has bought back shares in two stages totalling 1.25 million shares at 460p per share. This is 1.7% of the shares in issue and cost £5.75 million. Based on the current NAV (31 March 2024) this equates to a discount of 33% which means that there is

an enhancement to NAV for continuing shareholders of £2.8 million or 0.56% of NAV.

The combination of the dividends paid and these buybacks mean that shareholders have received substantial benefits in terms of cash and NAV enhancement which should eventually be reflected in a stronger share price. The Company regularly reviews its capital allocation balancing the immediate enhancement of buybacks against the longer term returns possible from new investments with a paramount objective of maintaining and growing the dividend. All of this must be done mindful of the need to maintain an efficient balance sheet and to meet any drawdowns from funds comfortably.

Your Company has great experience in its 25-year history of managing such parameters successfully.

Outlook

At this stage in the year it is only possible to form a preliminary view of how the Company's portfolio will progress through the year. As noted before the flow of realisations slowed notably in the second half last year. So far this year exits have been healthy as exemplified by the Jollyes and Coretrax sales. There are several other portfolio companies which are at different stages of planning exits and where a realisation is expected this year. Usually exits average over 30% above latest carrying value and so contribute considerably to NAV growth. The other key driver of NAV is the fundamental progress of the investee companies with advancing revenues and profits driving long term gains.

2024 is an election year in both the USA and UK and in several other countries. Historically changes in government on either side of the Atlantic have not impeded the increased adoption of private equity but it is a factor that will attract increasing focus.

The international business environment in recent months has shown some signs of improvement and this has been reflected in the increased confidence shown by our investment partners. It is therefore logical to expect an uptick in deal activity as we progress through the year. Our portfolio is highly diversified and it contains considerable exposure to sectors which have long term growth characteristics.

Deal flow for new investment in funds and co-investments remains excellent and we intend to judiciously deploy capital in the best of these opportunities building the foundations for continuing growth in shareholder value.

Hamish Mair

Investment Manager

Columbia Threadneedle Investment Business Limited

Quarterly Report 31 March 2024 | 7

CT Private Equity Trust PLC

Co-investment Case Study-Coretrax

Background

Coretrax is a provider of wellbore clean-up and plug and abandonment products and services. It was acquired by Buckthorn Partners in December 2018 in a primary buy-out at an attractive entry multiple of 6.7x 2019 EBITDA.

Coretrax's focus is on developing and deploying products and services that deliver measurable operational and financial benefits to operators in drilling, completing, producing and abandoning wells. Its key markets are the North Sea, Middle East (Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi) and Malaysia.

Investment Rationale and Performance

Platform of scale in a resilient market

An opportunity to build a platform of scale to operate in the space left by large oilfield services companies within the wellbore clean-up and plug and abandonment products and services sector. Even throughout market downturns, Coretrax has demonstrated year-on-year growth consistently achieving high margins and impressive cashflow conversion.

Successful buy-and-build model

Two transformational acquisitions were completed in 2019. Mohawk the leading US provider of innovative expandable well patches was acquired for 5.5x 2018 EBITDA. Churchill Drilling Solutions, acquired at 4.9x LTM EBITDA, was a downhole solutions specialist which further strengthened Coretrax's presence in the Middle East.

Synergy benefits

The consolidated entity benefitted from significant cost savings and synergies. The acquisitions also significantly expanded the group's product offering and enabled cross selling in its larger customer base.

Diversified tool and service offering

Coretrax has significantly increased its portfolio of innovative downhole tools and services through strategic M&A and investment in new product development.

Exit

Coretrax was acquired by Expro on 13 February 2024. Consideration was a combination of cash and shares, with £3.4 million being received by the Company in May 2024. There are adjustment mechanisms which mean that the Company's final proceeds will not be known until we have sold the Expro shares (expected by the end of October 2024). The sale is expected to result in a net return of 1.8-2.0x cost for the Company.

8 | CT Private Equity Trust PLC

Portfolio Holdings

Portfolio Summary

	% of Total	% of Total
Portfolio Distribution	31 March	31 December
As at 31 March 2024	2024	2023
Buyout Funds - Pan European*	10.6	10.5
Buyout Funds - UK	16.3	16.2
Buyout Funds - Continental Europe ~	16.9	18.2
Secondary Funds	0.1	0.1
Private Equity Funds - USA	4.7	5.0
Private Equity Funds - Global	1.8	1.7
Venture Capital Funds	4.2	3.7
Direct - Quoted	-	-
Direct Investments/Co-investments	45.4	44.6
	100.0	100.0

* Europe including the UK. ~ Europe excluding the UK.

	Total	% of
Ten Largest Individual Holdings	Valuation	Total
As at 31 March 2024	£'000	Portfolio
Jollyes*	18,912	3.1
Sigma	15,894	2.6
Inflexion Strategic Partners	15,052	2.5
Coretrax*	13,915	2.3
Aliante Equity 3	11,374	1.9
TWMA	11,120	1.8
ATEC (CETA)	10,631	1.8
August Equity Partners V	10,408	1.7
Aurora Payment Solutions	10,327	1.7
San Siro	10,230	1.7
	127,863	21.1

*Sold following the period end.

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CT Private Equity Trust PLC

Portfolio Holdings

		Total	% of
Investment	Geographic	Valuation	Total
Focus	£'000	Portfolio
Buyout Funds - Pan European
Stirling Square Capital II	Europe	8,894	1.5
F&C European Capital Partners	Europe	8,832	1.5
Apposite Healthcare II	Europe	8,663	1.4
Apposite Healthcare III	Europe	7,830	1.3
Magnesium Capital 1	Europe	5,739	0.9
MED II	Western Europe	4,215	0.7
Agilitas 2015 Fund	Northern Europe	3,416	0.6
Astorg VI	Western Europe	3,011	0.5
Volpi III	Northern Europe	2,511	0.4
Summa III	Northern Europe	1,365	0.2
Verdane XI	Northern Europe	1,226	0.2
TDR Capital II	Western Europe	1,183	0.2
Agilitas 2020 Fund	Europe	1,144	0.2
ArchiMed MED III	Global	1,060	0.2
TDR II Annex Fund	Western Europe	1,019	0.2
Med Platform II	Global	923	0.2
KKA II	Europe	887	0.1
Wisequity VI	Italy	787	0.1
Silverfleet European Dev Fund	Europe	712	0.1
Verdane Edda III	Northern Europe	631	0.1
Agilitas 2024 HIF	Europe	241	-
Volpi Capital	Northern Europe	45	-
Total Buyout Funds - Pan European		64,334	10.6
Buyout Funds - UK
Inflexion Strategic Partners	United Kingdom	15,052	2.5
August Equity Partners V	United Kingdom	10,408	1.7
Inflexion Supplemental V	United Kingdom	7,427	1.2
Axiom 1	United Kingdom	6,580	1.1
Apiary Capital Partners I	United Kingdom	6,303	1.0
Inflexion Buyout Fund V	United Kingdom	5,768	0.9
August Equity Partners IV	United Kingdom	4,631	0.8
Kester Capital II	United Kingdom	4,270	0.7
Piper Private Equity VI	United Kingdom	3,919	0.6
Inflexion Partnership Capital II	United Kingdom	3,443	0.6
Inflexion Enterprise Fund IV	United Kingdom	3,413	0.6
FPE Fund II	United Kingdom	3,344	0.5
FPE Fund III	United Kingdom	3,204	0.5
Inflexion Enterprise Fund V	United Kingdom	2,985	0.5
Corran Environmental II	United Kingdom	2,773	0.5
Inflexion Buyout Fund IV	United Kingdom	2,646	0.4
Inflexion Buyout Fund VI	United Kingdom	2,464	0.4
Piper Private Equity VII	United Kingdom	1,875	0.3
Inflexion Supplemental IV	United Kingdom	1,442	0.2
GCP Europe II	United Kingdom	1,352	0.2
Kester Capital III	United Kingdom	1,189	0.2
RJD Private Equity Fund III	United Kingdom	1,130	0.2
Horizon Capital 2013	United Kingdom	1,067	0.2
Inflexion Partnership Capital I	United Kingdom	1,063	0.2
Primary Capital IV	United Kingdom	1,042	0.2
Piper Private Equity V	United Kingdom	313	0.1
Inflexion 2012 Co-Invest Fund	United Kingdom	28	-
Inflexion 2010 Fund	United Kingdom	18	-
Dunedin Buyout Fund II	United Kingdom	12	-
Total Buyout Funds - UK		99,161	16.3
Buyout Funds - Continental Europe
Aliante Equity 3	Italy	11,374	1.9
Bencis V	Benelux	9,128	1.5
Avallon MBO Fund III	Poland	5,824	1.0
DBAG VII	DACH	5,562	0.9
Capvis III CV	DACH	5,350	0.9
Vaaka III	Finland	5,255	0.9
Summa II	Nordic	4,770	0.8
Chequers Capital XVII	France	4,680	0.8
DBAG VIII	DACH	4,654	0.8
Montefiore V	France	4,096	0.7
Procuritas VI	Nordic	3,869	0.6
Verdane Edda	Nordic	3,774	0.6
ARX CEE IV	Eastern Europe	3,177	0.5
Italian Portfolio	Italy	3,114	0.5
Corpfin V	Spain	2,758	0.5
Procuritas Capital IV	Nordic	2,746	0.5
Corpfin Capital Fund IV	Spain	2,536	0.4
NEM Imprese III	Italy	2,364	0.4
Procuritas VII	Nordic	2,068	0.3
Capvis IV	DACH	2,029	0.3
Montefiore IV	France	2,011	0.3
Aurica IV	Spain	1,647	0.3
Vaaka II	Finland	1,368	0.2
Vaaka IV	Finland	1,279	0.2
Portobello Fund III	Spain	1,270	0.2
Summa I	Nordic	1,059	0.2
DBAG VIIB	DACH	1,027	0.2
DBAG VIIIB	DACH	718	0.1
Chequers Capital XVI	France	716	0.1
DBAG Fund VI	DACH	679	0.1
PineBridge New Europe II	Eastern Europe	485	0.1
Ciclad 5	France	384	0.1
Procuritas Capital V	Nordic	206	-
Montefiore Expansion	France	139	-
Gilde Buyout Fund III	Benelux	91	-
N+1 Private Equity Fund II	Iberia	90	-
Capvis III	DACH	51	-
DBAG Fund V	DACH	5	-
Total Buyout Funds - Continental Europe		102,353	16.9

10 | CT Private Equity Trust PLC