Electra

Edward Bramson, through his activist fund Sherborne Investors, initiated the strategy after winning a boardroom battle at Electra in 2015. Bramson argued the trust traded at a persistent discount to its net asset value and pushed for a comprehensive return of capital to shareholders rather than reinvesting proceeds.

Electra was a listed private equity trust; Epiris served as its long-term investment manager, overseeing the buyouts and co-investments. Sherborne Investors, led by Edward Bramson, is the activist fund that gained control of Electra's board and mandated the realization strategy that superseded Epiris's original buy-and-build mandate.

The firm has systematically sold down its holdings across buyouts, secondaries, and debt. The demerger of TGI Fridays into Hostmore plc in November 2021 was the signature structural move. The remaining assets, including Knight Square Holdings, have been managed for controlled liquidation, with proceeds returned via dividends and buybacks.

No. Electra stopped making new primary fund commitments in 2011, and the current strategy is exclusively focused on realising remaining assets and returning cash to shareholders. The trust will ultimately be wound down once the final positions are monetized.

Electra demerged the TGI Fridays business into a newly listed entity, Hostmore plc, on 1 November 2021. Electra shareholders received shares in Hostmore, giving them direct exposure to the restaurant platform as a standalone public company separate from the trust's remaining liquidating assets.