Weekly wrap: Scottish Mortgage, Hipgnosis Songs

We continue our new series on developments at popular investment trusts with news from Scottish Mortgage, Hipgnosis Songs, HgCapital and two Henderson European trusts. 

Scottish Mortgage share buybacks 

Scottish Mortgage has spent about £670m on share repurchases this year, a broker has estimated. Panmure Liberum said the trust had spent about £668m buying back its own shares between its announcement on 15 March of a £1bn repurchase programme and 5 July. ‘The most significant repurchase (and probably the biggest ever single day repurchase by an investment company) was the £311m bought back from Elliot [the activist investor], halving its stake,’ the broker said. Trusts disclose repurchases publicly via the London Stock Exchange’s regulatory news service.   

• Read our latest update on Scottish Mortgage

Hipgnosis Songs takeover 

More than 99.9% of shareholders in the Hipgnosis Songs Fund voted on Monday to approve a £1.2bn takeover by Blackstone, the private equity company. The transaction is expected to complete on 29 July. 

HgCapital sells asset at 30% premium 

HgCapital, the private equity trust, announced on Wednesday that it had agreed the sale of part of its investment in team.blue, a software company, to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The transaction values the trust’s investment in team.blue at about £95m, a premium of £21.8m (30% or 4.8p per share) to the £73.2m at which it was valued in March. It is the latest in a series of sales at a premium to book value by the trust. 

Deutsche Numis, the broker, said the sale ‘continues the trend of realisations above valuation in Hg’s portfolio’ following the sale of Argus Media, F24 and Team System so far this year. ‘Realisations have generally been muted in the listed private equity sector; however, Hg has continued to defy this trend,’ it added. 

Henderson trust merger completes 

Important information - investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. Before investing, please read the relevant key information document which contains important information about each investment trust. The shares in these investment trusts are listed on the London Stock Exchange and their price is affected by supply and demand. Investment trusts can gain additional exposure to the market, known as gearing, potentially increasing volatility. Overseas investments will be affected by movements in currency exchange rates. Investments in emerging markets can be more volatile than other more developed markets. Reference to specific securities should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell these securities and is included for the purposes of illustration only. This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice.