Scottish Mortgages raises $400m through private placement

To maintain appropriate level of gearing

The board of the £18.3bn Scottish Mortgage investment trust has raised $400m through a private placement to provide “long-term financing”.

In a stock exchange announcement, the board said it increased the level of borrowings "in order to maintain what it believes to be the appropriate level of gearing of the portfolio". Analysts at Numis highlighted that "Scottish Mortgage has added to its structural debt a number of times in recent years, which reflects the Board's aim to have gearing at c.10%, but it has historically been marginally below this due to the growth in assets of the company reducing the level of gearing as a proportion of assets." The new private placement consists of three notes: one 30-year note for $175m...