Sir Brian Souter’s investments lost millions of pounds as he sold his stake in Stagecoach last year.
The Perth bus company’s co-founder holds the majority of his wealth within family investment vehicle Souter Investments Limited.
Newly filed accounts, for the year ending March 31, show a pre-tax loss of £15.4 million.
Last June, Stagecoach was delisted from the stock market after being acquired by DWS Infrastructure in a £595m deal.
Sir Brian’s investment company held 80 million shares, which were acquired for £1.05 each.
It ended the prominent Scottish entrepreneur’s involvement with the transport firm he created with his sister Dame Ann Gloag in 1980.
Sir Brian Souter’s investments
With the sale of Stagecoach shares, the value of the company’s investments listed on stock exchanges fell from £151.9 million to £64.3m.
However, the value of unlisted investments rose from £277.9m to £331m.
Souter Investment Limited’s net assets, including cash at the bank, were put at £400m at the year end.
It holds stakes in more than 30 businesses across sectors ranging from financial services, to healthcare, industrial, telecoms and transport.
Armed with the proceeds of the Stagecoach sale, it has completed several deals this year.
In February it announced it had stakes in engineering firms Suir Engineering and Amey. In August, it invested in modular building company Premier Modular.
Last month it agreed terms to acquire Premier Hytemp, a global provider of turnkey metals and precision engineering solutions for the energy industry, partnering with the company’s chief executive for a management buy-out.
The pre-tax loss of £15.4m includes the cost of running the fund. It is a marked difference to the previous year when the value of the firm’s investments rose more than £70m.
Strong opportunities
In his report accompanying the accounts, investment director Calum Cusiter said: “The generation of new opportunities was again strong during the year.
“We continue to be rigorous in our selection of investments. We continue to diversify our portfolio and retain a healthy appetite for unlisted investments.
“On behalf of our board I would like to record our thanks to the employees of all our group companies for the huge contribution they made to the group during the course of the year.”
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