Hygrovest Ltd (ASX:HGV, OTC:MMJJF)’s net asset value (before provision for deferred tax) increased by 14% during July 2023 underpinned by its investment in Weed Me Inc, a premium craft cannabis producer in Ontario.
The improvement in HGV’s net asset value was primarily due to the increase in the enterprise value to net revenue multiple (EV/NRM) valuation multiple applied by HGV to Weed Me.
That multiple is derived from the end of month market valuations of various listed Canadian companies, each of which HGV considers to be broadly comparable to Weed Me.
HGV has also applied a 15% discount to the derived valuation multiple to account for the fact that Weed Me is unlisted.
Investors in Hygrovest have exposure to a globally diversified portfolio that seeks to produce capital growth over the medium term from investments in listed and unlisted equities and debt securities.
Weed Me is the best-performing investment in HGV’s portfolio with a book value of A$13 million as at July 31 2023.
Read: Hygrovest recruits new investment manager and builds the board in FY24
Hygrovest is keeping pace in the second half of 2023 with a new investment manager and some new faces on the board.
Back in late February, the specialist investment company kicked off the search for a new investment manager as the sunset date for its investment management agreement with Parallax Ventures loomed.
Since then, a preferred candidate has been chosen and is scheduled to start working with Hygrovest this month.
New board recruits
Ahead of the new manager’s appointment, Hygrovest has also flagged some changes to its board composition.
Corporate lawyer Jason Byrne will join the team as a non-executive director, leveraging more than 30 years of entrepreneurial experience.
In addition to Byrne’s appointment, Warwick Sauer — who joined the HGV board as independent director back in March 2023 — is moving into a non-executive chair role.
Sauer brings boardroom experience and more than 25 years of commercial law, capital markets, M&A and litigation expertise to the Hygrovest team.