Literacy Capital banks 59% uplift on Tyrefix sale

The private equity trust is on set for its best quarter for cash inflows on record as it makes a 2.5x multiple on invested capital.

Literacy Capital (BOOK) is on track for its strongest quarter on record for cash proceeds following the sale of Tyrefix. 

The off-road tyre services specialist, held in the portfolio for more than five years, has been sold for £14.7m. This represents a 59% premium to its latest carrying value, delivering a 2.5x multiple on invested capital with a 25% internal rate of return.  

Combined with the sale of Wifinity earlier this month, the transaction will move the £236m trust, which donates a percentage of its net asset value (ANV) to the Bookmark Reading Charity, into a net cash position.

The sale is expected to complete in early February, with the proceeds contributing to first-quarter cash inflows exceeding all previous quarterly totals − surpassing the record set in the third quarter of 2025, following the partial sale of its stake in Velociti. 

The aggregate value of the trust’s last three realisations was £81.2m, representing a 39% premium over their combined reported carrying value of £58.6m. 

Richard Pindar, chief executive officer of BOOK’s investment manager, said the Tyrefix team had been ‘a pleasure to work with’. 

He added that ‘despite a challenging M&A environment in the mid-market,’ Literacy Capital has generated a substantial amount of cash since July 2025’. He expects BOOK to generate more than £65m in cash from asset sales and refinancings over the nine months to the end of March. 

Pindar added that the value consistently delivered from recent realisations, relative to reported valuations, demonstrates the trust’s ‘conservative’ valuation methodology, leaving it well placed to deploy capital in the existing portfolio and future transactions to generate ‘further strong returns for investors.’

Having long traded at a premium to NAV, and scooping best in private equity at Citywire’s 2024 trust awards, a hefty discount widened out in 2025 as shares tumbled. Over the past year, shares are down 10.13% and the discount rests at 22.4%.  

Winterflood analyst Shavar Halberstadt said: ‘We have been monitoring BOOK since its sharp de-rating over the last year. It is an obviously sensible proposition, professionalising small UK businesses, an area where competing capital is limited. The founders have a very clear idea of their goals, and for us the main question was what the deal landscape would look like.’

Despite a strong year for merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in 2025, many of the deals were concentrated among larger companies,  according to Halberstadt.

‘So far, BOOK is proving that it can thrive in that environment, and with a net cash balance sheet seems well-positioned for 2026,’ he added.