chilar4567
9 years ago
4:34 PM ET 10/14/15 | GlobeNewswire
GSV Capital Corp. ("GSV Capital" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:GSVC) has elected to be treated as a regulated investment company ("RIC") for the 2014 taxable year. The Company is also announcing its intent to distribute to its stockholders a portion of its net realized gains for fiscal year 2015, subject to approval by the Company's board of directors.
"An ongoing priority of ours is to capitalize on attractive opportunities and monetize positions in our portfolio. We are pleased to announce that we sold our entire position in 2U at an average price of $35.77 per share, generating $37.2 million in realized gains in the third quarter," said Michael Moe, Chief Executive Officer of GSV Capital. "2U was our second-largest position at the end of the second quarter and resulted in a very attractive return."
Company Shares Average Net Realized IRR
Sold Share Proceeds Gain
Price
2U, Inc. 1,319,233 $35.77 $47,192,835 $37,160,719 65.1%
Moe continued, "Our portfolio continues to mature and we have begun to generate cumulative net realized gains. As required to maintain our status as a RIC, we intend to distribute a portion of such gains to stockholders in the form of dividends."
GSV Capital's Distribution Plans for Fiscal Year 2015
As previously reported, GSV Capital has elected to be treated as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, for U.S. federal income tax purposes for the 2014 taxable year and intends to maintain its RIC status for the 2015 taxable year. To qualify for RIC tax treatment, among other things, GSV Capital must distribute to its stockholders, for each taxable year, at least 90% of its "investment company taxable income," which is generally the Company's ordinary income plus the excess of its realized net short-term capital gains over its realized net long-term capital losses.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2015, GSV Capital generated net realized gains of approximately $53 million. The timing and actual amount of the Company's distribution, if any, remain subject to the sole discretion of GSV Capital's board of directors.
Selected Portfolio Company Developments by Investment Themes
As previously reported, GSV Capital's net assets totaled $303.6 million, or $15.72 per share, at June 30, 2015.
Education Technology
-- Coursera, Inc.: Coursera, one of the largest providers of massive open online courses, raised $60 million in its Series C funding in August 2015. Coursera partners with top universities to offer over 1,400 courses, and serves over 15 million students globally. With its additional capital, the company plans to focus on continued product innovation and international growth, particularly in the Asia market. Investors to date include New Enterprise Associates, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, International Finance Corporation, and Times Internet Limited.
-- General Assembly Space, Inc.: General Assembly, a global education company that provides professional training and education, successfully raised a $70 million round of Series D financing in September 2015 led by Advance Publications and Wellington Capital Management. In 2015, the company will enroll over 14,000 students in its 3-month programs and will reach over 25,000 alumni through the company's worldwide network. To date, General Assembly has raised $110 million from investors including Institutional Venture Partners, Maveron, Learn Capital, and Rethink Education.
-- DreamBox Learning, Inc.: DreamBox Learning offers K-8 adaptive and personalized SaaS-based mathematics instruction. The company closed $10 million in Series B funding in August 2015 led by Owl Ventures, and plans to use the new funds to expand its content offering and develop the next generation of its intelligent adaptive platform.
Cloud and Big Data
-- Declara, Inc.: Declara, a search engine technology and analytics company that focuses on building technology for personalized learning tools, announced that its CEO and Founder, Ramona Pierson, and the company were chosen by the White House to be among a select group of innovative startups to be showcased at the first-ever White House Demo Day on August 4, 2015. A video clip of President Obama's comments regarding Ms. Pierson and Declara can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/RamonaWH.
-- Dropbox, Inc.: Cloud file-sharing and storage provider Dropbox secured a significant deal to provide its enterprise services to Arizona State University's 10,000 faculty and staff. Dropbox now has over 400 million registered users, and the company continues to focus on collaboration, simplicity, and accessibility. Dropbox also made a number of key hires in recent months, including Todd Jackson (Vice President of Product), Vanessa Wittman (Chief Financial Officer), and Thomas Hansen (Head of Sales).
-- Palantir Technologies Inc.: Palantir, a data analytics platform used by law enforcement, government agencies, financial services firms, and healthcare industries, raised $450 million in a new round of funding in July 2015. With an estimated $20 billion valuation, Palantir is considered to be the third most valuable private company in the U.S.
Social Mobile
-- 4C Insights (f/k/a The Echo System Corp.): 4C Insights, a data science software company that powers the future of advertising, acquired Teletrax on July 30, 2015 to create the world's most comprehensive platform for social and television advertising. 4C Insights closed a further investment led by Jump Capital to provide for additional growth funding.
-- Enjoy Technology, Inc.: Online e-commerce company, Enjoy Technology, raised $50 million in Series B funding in August 2015 led by Highland Capital, bringing total funding to date to $80 million. GSV Capital participated in the most recent round with a $4 million investment. Founded by former Apple retail chief Ron Johnson, Enjoy entitiles its members to an exclusive range of executive concierge, travel, personal security, legal and assistance services upon purchasing a product. Other investors to date include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Oak Investment Partners.
Marketplaces
-- GSVlabs (f/k/a nestGSV, Inc.): GSVlabs, a hub of innovation focused on accelerating the high-growth, high-impact verticals of Education Technology, Sustainability, Big Data, and Mobility, hosted the 2015 GSV Pioneer Summit from October 7-9, 2015, at which more than 100 speakers presented. The Pioneer Summit aims to accelerate transformative companies and connect a community of game-changing entrepreneurs, global corporations, and growth investors in the Global Silicon Valley. Private companies that attended the Pioneer Summit have raised $4 billion in funding. For more information, visit www.pioneersummit.com.
-- Lyft, Inc.: Lyft, the San Francisco-based ridesharing startup, announced a cross-border partnership with Didi Kuaidi, China's largest ride-hailing company that controls approximately 80 percent of the overall ride-hailing market in China. Didi Kuaidi also invested $100 million in Lyft's latest round, alongside Alibaba and Tencent.
-- New Zoom, Inc.: New Zoom, a company that specializes in the design, software development, technology, and operation of automated retail stores, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2015.
About GSV Capital Corp.
GSV Capital Corp. (Nasdaq:GSVC) is a publicly traded investment fund that seeks to invest in high-growth, venture-backed private companies. Led by industry veteran Michael Moe, the fund seeks to create a portfolio of high-growth emerging private companies via a repeatable and disciplined investment approach, as well as to provide investors with access to such companies through its publicly traded common stock. GSV Capital is headquartered in Woodside, CA. www.gsvcap.com
Follow GSV Capital on Twitter: @gsvcap
The GSV Capital Corp. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=12750
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements included herein may constitute "forward-looking statements," which relate to future events or our future performance or financial condition. These statements are not guarantees of our future performance, condition or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in our filings with the SEC. GSV Capital Corp. undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made herein, unless required to do so by law.
CONTACT: GSV Capital Corp.
William Tanona
(650) 235-4769
IR@gsvam.com
skietz
10 years ago
Reports Third Quarter 2014 Results of Operations
Net Asset Value of $15.17 Per Share as of September 30, 2014
WOODSIDE, Calif., Nov. 6, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GSV Capital Corp. ("GSV") (Nasdaq:GSVC), today announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2014. Net assets totaled $293.1 million or $15.17 per share at September 30, 2014, as compared to $14.86 per share at June 30, 2014, and $13.16 per share at September 30, 2013.
"We are pleased that NAV continues to increase, reaching an all time high this quarter and was up over 15% from a year ago," said Michael Moe, Chief Executive Officer of GSV Capital. "Another positive milestone in the quarter was monetizing several of our private positions with strong returns, including ZocDoc, Dianrong, and a portion of Palantir. We believe it's important to demonstrate an ability to get liquidity for our private holdings to optimize portfolio performance."
"Additionally, the overall portfolio continues to exhibit excellent fundamentals with the average year-over-year growth greater than 90%," Moe continued. "We are confident that high and sustainable growth will correlate with appreciation of our Net Asset Value."
Third Quarter 2014 Portfolio Highlights include:
-- GSV sold shares in a number of its public and private portfolio companies
including:
1) 320,000 shares of Palantir at $5.50 per share, resulting in $1.8 million in net proceeds, a $0.9 million realized gain, and a 36% Internal Rate of Return (IRR).
2) 300,000 shares of Twitter (Ticker:TWTR) at an average price $52.27 per share, resulting in $15.7 million in net proceeds. This transaction generated $10.2 million in realized gains and a 42% IRR.
3) 8,747,476 shares of Dianrong at $0.49 per share, resulting in $4.3 million in net proceeds. This transaction generated $3.5 million in realized gains and a 151% IRR.
4) 311,866 shares of ZocDoc at $25 per share, resulting in $7.8 million in net proceeds, a $2.5 million realized gain, and a 18% IRR.
-- GSV invested $10.3 million in the quarter, including a new investment in
CourseHero, and follow-on investments in the following portfolio
companies: Circle Media, Earlyshares, GSV Sustainability Partners,
nestGSV, Solexel and Stormwind.
Investment Portfolio as of September 30, 2014
At September 30, 2014, GSV owned positions in 49 portfolio companies with an aggregate fair value of $366.2 million. The Company's three largest investments comprised 40.6% of the total portfolio value excluding Treasuries while its top ten portfolio companies represented 65.3% of the total portfolio value excluding Treasuries.
Top Ten Investments at September 30, 2014
Fair % of Total
$ in millions Value Portfolio
------------------------------ ------- ----------
Twitter, Inc. $ 82.6 22.5%
Palantir Technologies, Inc. 39.5 10.8
Dropbox, Inc. 26.4 7.2
2U, Inc. 18.5 5.1
Coursera, Inc. 14.5 4.0
Solexel, Inc. 14.0 3.8
SugarCRM, Inc. 12.1 3.3
Avenues Global Holdings, LLC. 11.2 3.1
Declara, Inc. 10.1 2.8
PayNearMe, Inc. 10.0 2.7
------------------------------ ------- ----------
Total $ 238.9 65.3%
Third Quarter 2014 Portfolio Investment Activity
In the third quarter of 2014, GSV invested $10.3 million, including a new investment in CourseHero, and made follow-on investments in the following portfolio companies: Circle Media, Earlyshares, GSV Sustainability Partners, nestGSV, Solexel and Stormwind.
During the third quarter of 2014, GSV sold the following investments.
Average
Shares Share Net Realized
Portfolio Company Sold Price Proceeds Gain/Loss
------------------------------ --------- ------- ------------ ------------
Palantir Technologies 320,000 $5.50 $1,759,900 $889,672
Twitter Inc. 300,000 $52.27 $15,681,483 $10,241,936
DianRong (fka SinoLending
Ltd.) 8,747,476 $0.49 $4,286,230 $3,531,144
ZocDoc Inc. 311,866 $25.00 $7,796,650 $2,498,594
Total Net Proceeds $ 29,524,263 $ 17,161,346
------------ ------------
At September 30, 2014, GSV had investments in 44 private companies and 5 public companies (2U, Chegg, Cricket Media (fka ePals Inc.) TrueCar, and Twitter). In general, management intends to liquidate its public securities holdings within one year following the expiration of the IPO lock-up.
Subsequent to third quarter end, GSV Capital invested $3.5 million, including new investments of $2.5 million in DogVacay and $1.0 million in Enjoy Technologies. In addition, GSV Capital made follow-on investments of $11.7 million in OzyMedia, GSV Sustainability Partners, Learnist, and nestGSV.
As GSV's portfolio matures and realizes a cumulative net realized gain, GSV intends to distribute a portion of such gains to shareholders in the form of a distribution.
Third Quarter 2014 Financial Results
GSV recorded a net realized gain on investments of $17.2 million or $0.89 per share during the three months ended September 30, 2014, compared to a net realized loss on investments of $(0.2) million or $(0.01) per share, for the three months ended September 30, 2013. Net investment loss was $(4.9) million or $(0.25) per share during the three months ended September 30, 2014, compared to net investment loss of $(3.0) million or $(0.16) per share, for the three months ended September 30, 2013. For the three months ended September 30, 2014, GSV had a net change in unrealized appreciation on investments of $1.3 million or $0.07 per share, a decrease from the three months ended September 30, 2013 versus $8.9 million or $0.46 per share. Net increase in net assets resulting from operations was $6.0 million or $0.31 per share, for the three months ended September 30, 2014. This compares to a net increase in net assets resulting from operations of $5.7 million or $0.29 per share, for the three months ended September 30, 2013. Weighted average common shares outstanding were 19.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2014 and September 30, 2013, respectively.
Conference Call and Webcast
Management will hold a conference call and webcast for investors today at 2:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. ET). The conference call number for U.S. participants is 877-675-4756 and the conference call number for participants outside the U.S. is 1 719-325-4784. The conference ID number for both call numbers is 2880368. Additionally, interested parties can listen to a live webcast of the call from the "Investors" section of GSV Capital's website at http://investors.gsvcap.com/. An archived replay of the webcast will also be available for 12 months following the live presentation.
A replay of the conference call may be accessed through November 13, 2014 by dialing 888-203-1112 (U.S.) or 1 719-457-0820 (international), using conference ID number 2880368.
About GSV Capital Corp.
GSV Capital Corp. (GSVC) is a publicly traded investment fund that seeks to invest in high-growth, venture-backed private companies. Led by industry veteran Michael Moe, the fund seeks to create a portfolio of high-growth emerging private companies via a repeatable and disciplined investment approach, as well as to provide investors with access to such companies through its publicly traded common stock. GSV Capital is headquartered in Woodside, CA. www.gsvcap.com
www.gsvcap.com
Follow GSV Capital on Twitter: @gsvcap
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements included herein may constitute "forward-looking statements," which relate to future events or our future performance or financial condition. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, condition or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. GSV Capital Corp. undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made herein.
GSV CAPITAL CORP. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
September 30, 2014 December 31, 2013
Enterprising Investor
12 years ago
Can You Trust Private-Equity Returns? (6/07/13)
By JOE LIGHT
In the best of times, the true value of a private-equity fund is a mystery. At other times, the value might be manipulated to entice prospective investors, according to new research.
Private-equity funds are partnerships that own companies or other assets that aren't typically traded on a public exchange. Before selling fund holdings, private-equity firms have to rely on recent sales of similar companies and other variables to guess at what the assets are worth. When the sales do happen, some research has found, private-equity-fund performance can be quite good.
But in the meantime, it turns out that some firms might be using the ambiguity to make their returns look better than they really are, right before trying to raise capital for a new fund, according to recent research.
Other, more commonly held investments, including mutual funds, also sometimes use hazy estimates of private-asset values. Some of the same cautions that apply to private-equity returns could apply to these investments as well, say experts.
That makes it important for investors to treat such valuations as rough estimates and, when they can, do their own research, says David Spaulding, chief executive of the Spaulding Group, a consulting firm in Somerset, N.J., that specializes in performance measurement.
"Any illiquid asset is at risk of less-than-accurate pricing," he says. "Eventually, somebody's going to have to sell that asset and the mispricing is going to come out."
Attracting Investors
In the interim, private-equity firms have an incentive to make returns look good on paper so they can attract investors into their new funds.
Private-equity firms—which have raised $158.7 billion this year through Monday, according to industry tracker Preqin—are audited and increasingly hire consultants to help them value their holdings. Those third parties perform their own analyses but have to rely somewhat on what the firms tell them.
In the process, some private-equity firms appear to juice the returns intentionally to help raise new funds, according to research released in May by Greg Brown and Oleg Gredil of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Steven Kaplan of the University of Chicago.
"Some funds may be trying to convince people that they are better than they really are," Mr. Brown says.
The good news: According to the research, most firms that try to manipulate their performance fail to raise a new fund. That suggests potential investors see through the trick.
The research estimates that those firms inflate their asset values by about 20% before trying to find new investors. Afterward, the estimated values typically fall back to earth. The paper finds that top-performing funds actually tend to underreport returns.
Another paper released in February by researchers at the University of Oxford in England also found that some private-equity funds seem to increase the value of their assets shortly before raising money.
In a statement, Bronwyn Bailey, vice president of research at the Private Equity Growth Capital Council, an industry group, said: "The [Brown] paper clearly demonstrates that private-equity returns are, if anything, being reported conservatively and that investors will not invest in firms that deviate from industry-accepted valuation practices," adding that firms that can't raise new funds will go out of business.
Moves to Make
So what is an investor to do?
For one, if you are a high-net-worth investor considering a private-equity fund, sign on only with firms whose funds have investments from major institutions, Mr. Brown says. Institutional investors do their own analyses of valuation methods to make sure a firm isn't juicing its returns, which small investors can piggyback on, he says.
University of Oxford finance professor Tim Jenkinson, one of the authors of the February research, says investors might be best served by ignoring interim returns reported in marketing materials altogether. His research found that such returns have little correlation to the funds' final performance relative to other funds.
Investors who hold mutual funds, closed-end funds and exchange-traded funds that invest in private companies or illiquid assets also should be wary of discrepancies.
For example, at the end of March, GSV Capital, GSVC -1.23%a closed-end fund that invests in private companies, had a net asset value of $12.69 a share, according to the company. At the same time, investors could buy the fund at $8.26, a 35% discount.
The problem is, few investors agree on the true values of the companies GSV owns.
Take the case of Twitter. The social-networking firm isn't publicly traded yet, but that hasn't stopped several mutual funds from picking up shares. GSV Capital owned about 1.8 million shares at the end of March, the latest data available. Another fund, T. Rowe Price New Horizons, owned 4.6 million shares at that time.
But while GSV Capital said the shares were worth $18.53 apiece, T. Rowe said the shares were worth only $16.38.
Anyone buying GSV based on its discount could be in for a surprise if Twitter goes public close to the lower price. GSV Capital Chief Investment Officer Michael Moe says that the firm used information from a recent private sale of shares to help estimate its value. In a statement, T. Rowe Price Group TROW -1.28%said it uses "a wide variety of sources and information" to estimate the value of private companies.
To avoid such problems, investors should look in funds' reports to see how the firms value assets, Mr. Spaulding says.
If market prices aren't available, it is best for companies to use the values of comparable businesses to derive an estimate and least desirable for them to try to guess at the value by running their own valuation analyses, he says.
One day, when the investments go public or are sold, you will find out who is right. For now, it pays to be cautious.
—Email: joe.light@wsj.com
Write to Joe Light at joe.light@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324069104578527320564520976.html?mod=WSJ_qtoverview_wsjlatest
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