Buchanan is delighted to have advised Amicorp FS (UK) plc (“AMIF”), the international specialist fund services group, on its successful IPO (LON: AMIF). The Company commenced trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on Thursday, 8th June 2023.
AMIF is a specialist provider of fund administration services, regulatory reporting, fiduciary services and multi-faceted business support alternatives for a broad mix of clients across private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, family offices and various asset classes locally and globally. The Group is well placed to support asset managers by leveraging its experience and expertise and take advantage of the significant growth in alternative asset management which, among many factors, are expected to drive its organic growth.
Buchanan advised AMIF through the IPO process and achieved widespread, supportive media coverage across national, investment and trade publications.
Buchanan is delighted to have spent another year working with the team at Velocys in the creation of their annual report.
This year the main focus was on putting the final building blocks in place to support a global roll-out of its technology which enables the production of sustainable aviation fuel.
View the report here
Buchanan is delighted to have supported Ashoka WhiteOak Emerging Markets Trust (“AWEM”) on its successful IPO (LON: AWEM). The Company commenced trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday, 3 May 2023.
The investment company will seek to achieve long-term capital growth, primarily through investing in equities that provide exposure to Global Emerging Markets. AWEM will provide investors with the opportunity to generate alpha through exposure to a portfolio of great companies at attractive valuations.
“Buchanan delivered a remarkably successful result in communicating & promoting the AWEM opportunity against a particularly challenging background for new IPOs, let alone investment company ones. They obtained a most impressive range of media coverage including with several major commentators whose endorsements were undoubtedly critical in securing the launch & listing of the new Company, and they demonstrated handsomely just what an effective PR campaign can achieve when executed & managed as professionally as they did.”
Martin Shenfield, Non-Executive Chairman of Ashoka WhiteOak Emerging Markets Trust plc
AWEM is the first premium listed IPO in the investment companies sector since November 2021 and the first listed equities-focused investment trust launched since 2018.
Buchanan advised AWEM throughout the IPO process and achieved significant supportive media coverage during the offer period, leading to substantial demand on retail investment platforms.
“The Buchanan team were an integral ingredient to the successful IPO of AWEM, where a well thought-through media plan delivered two prominent articles in the weekend editions of leading national newspapers, in addition to other specialist publications. In our opinion this is the best press coverage of any IPO that Ellora team members have worked on historically. Buchanan adds a great deal of value, based on their leading understanding of the investment companies universe and built on a solid network of quality, longstanding relationships.”
Oliver Kenyon, Corporate Finance at Ellora Partners
Panoro Energy ASA is a Norwegian listed independent exploration and production company with production, development, and exploration assets in West and North Africa and exploration assets in South Africa. Oil and gas companies play a vital role in the socio-economic development of countries where they operate, and as an energy company, Panoro have a duty to play a role in transitioning to a more sustainable world.
To deliver its first Sustainability Report, the company engaged Buchanan. The report highlights the high ethical standards maintained at all levels of the organisation, and Buchanan worked closely with employees from various departments to produce it.
The report was prepared in accordance with key standards and frameworks including the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association. The report illustrates the company’s role as a safe pair of hands for the management of oil and gas assets in transition.
Click here to read the sustainability report
VAALCO Energy is a Houston, U.S.-based, independent energy company with production, development and exploration assets in Africa and Canada. Buchanan provides ESG advisory to VAALCO. This year we supported the company to develop its approach to managing climate risk. We also created an ESG materiality framework to provide a gap analysis of ESG management and to inform the reporting process. The framework plotted material topics informed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Each of topic was assessed based upon the perceived level of risk to the business and the level of management control in place.
We were engaged once again to deliver VAALCO’s ESG Report. This document builds upon the foundations set in the 2021 report, expanding the disclosure to provide greater detail on the Company’s rigorous ESG management processes. The reporting in line with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) was further developed, including conducting a scenario analysis which considered the new asset locations following VAALCO’s merger with TransGlobe.
Click here to read the ESG report
Adriatic Metals is a fully-funded development and exploration company operating in Bosnia. The company engaged Buchanan to support the delivery of its first Sustainability Report. Buchanan worked closely with individuals from across the Company to produce a report that illustrates the company’s strong commitment to Bosnia, its workforce, and the environment.
The report was prepared in accordance with key standards and frameworks including the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, and International Council on Metals & Mining frameworks. The report illustrates the company’s commitment to community engagement, social and environmental performance, and its vision for the future as a sustainable, multi-asset metals producer.
“As the head of sustainability at a mining company, I just had the pleasure of working with Buchanan Communications Ltd on our first sustainability report. Buchanan’s team demonstrated a high level of professionalism, expertise, and commitment to sustainability from the initial consultation to the final report delivery. They were able to work seamlessly with our team, while providing invaluable guidance and recommendations that improved the quality of our report. In addition to providing practical solutions and strategies, they helped us identify material sustainability issues that were relevant to our business and stakeholders. All in all, Buchanan is a great option for any organisation that wants to create a high-quality sustainability report based on its commitment to sustainability.”
Vildana Mahmutovic, Head of Sustainability, Adriatic Metals plc
Click here to read the sustainability report
Buchanan’s ESG Team has worked with Blancco Technology Group over the past three years, supporting the Group to develop its sustainability programme, identify key metrics to measure performance, and articulate its impact story. As the industry standard in data erasure, Blancco’s products facilitate the secure erasure of electronic devices, negating the need for physical destruction and allowing hardware to have a second life. It was important that we communicate this positive environmental impact, whilst also presenting the Group’s strong internal management of ESG.
This month, Blancco published its 2022 ESG Report, building on its impact narrative and demonstrating improved management of ESG risk and opportunity through their performance analysis. The Group achieved carbon neutrality this year and set its first decarbonisation targets; we used the TCFD to map out the governance framework, strategy, and risk management in place to progress the Group on its journey to net zero, including conducting climate scenario analysis.
In September, Norge Mining published their Responsible Business Report for 2021 titled ‘Creating a Positive Legacy’. During this process, Buchanan provided consultancy, copywriting and strategy development to help Norge seize the opportunities presented by specific ESG issues.
Norge is focused on three EU Critical Raw Materials – phosphate, vanadium and titanium. These materials are of major strategic importance to Europe with an urgent requirement to produce them to ensure the security of supply and to meet ESG agendas in which companies are focusing on the provenance of materials to ensure they are ethically and sustainably sourced.
To deliver its plans to move from exploration into development and production, Norge is committed to the highest standards of responsible stewardship. Alignment with international sustainability programmes and disclosure guidance is central to the Company’s strategy for becoming a robust and responsible mining and processing business.
This is the second Report published by Norge outlining the significant progress achieved during 2021 across the Company but particularly from the perspective of sustainability.
Click here to read this report.
Redde Northgate has published its inaugural Sustainability Report. To understand ESG management across the merged Group and articulate a cohesive story, we needed to work with subject matter experts from across all areas of the business. Buchanan developed a robust ESG framework that outlined the material issues, objectives, and approach in each area of E, S and G.
As a fleet management company that is beginning the transition to electric vehicles (EV), it was also important to communicate the Group’s strong Drive to Zero story. We utilised the recommendations of the TCFD as a framework to demonstrate how the Group is taking a considered approach that will result in a holistic EV offering for its customers, as well as the efforts being undertaken to reduce its own carbon footprint.
The report encompasses performance and initiatives from across the Group, whilst also evidencing the standardisation of policies and formation of Group-level functions, and it was aligned to global ESG frameworks.
Click here to read this report.
Buchanan’s ESG Team recently produced Rank Group’s inaugural Sustainability Report. Back in January, we developed and designed the Group’s first interim Responsible Business Report, which set out the ESG strategy and key areas of focus that we established. This work was also supported by the in-depth Materiality Assessment we conducted for the Group, engaging with a range of external and internal stakeholders to understand the most pertinent ESG issues for Rank and the key risks and opportunities that are faced in different areas of the business.
This full-year Sustainability Report represents the Group’s efforts over the course the year and builds upon the framework outlined in the interim report, including tracking performance in each of the focus areas. We also disclosed in line with the recommendations of the TCFD and referenced SASB and GRI.