Somers Ltd has announced the surprise sale of its entire investment in Britain’s Ascot Lloyd Holdings.

The price of the transaction has not been disclosed, however Somers held a 51 per cent controlling stake in independent financial advisers Ascot Lloyd.

The news comes only a week after Somers, the parent company of Bermuda Commercial Bank, released its earning report for the six months to the end of March, which showed a $6.6 million net loss.

Ascot Lloyd yesterday said it had merged with Bellpenny, a fast-growing financial planning and consolidation company based in England.

Somers sold its stake in Ascot Lloyd, comprising £8.75 million ($11.3 million) of convertible loan notes and £4.45 million ($5.76 million) of loans, to CPL Bidco, a company ultimately controlled by global investment management firm Oaktree Capital Management. Oaktree supports Bellpenny.

The merger in Britain created Ascot Lloyd Bellpenny, which is said to have £6 billion assets under advice.

Somers’ investment in Ascot Lloyd stretches back to 2012 and was linked to a private placement with Utilico Investments Ltd, the company’s largest shareholder, which saw Somers acquire Utilico’s interest in Ascot Lloyd.

It increased its investment in Ascot Lloyd, particularly in 2014 and 2015, and invested a further £2.3 million in the company this year.

Somers is a Bermuda Stock Exchange-listed financial services holding company. It holds a major stake in Bermudian property and investment company West Hamilton Holdings. It also has stakes in a number of businesses around the world, including Homeloans Ltd in Australia, and Waverton Investment Management Ltd in the UK.

Somers has been hit by the weakness of the British currency during the past few years, most notably following the UK’s vote last year to leave the European Union. The company has said more than half of its gross assets are denominated in currencies other than the US dollar — chiefly sterling and the Australian dollar.

Meanwhile, a capital-raising programme was launched by Somers on Friday when it listed a rights issue of bonus warrants to existing shareholders.

The company has invited its shareholders to buy two bonus warrant shares at $13.50 for every five common shares they already own.

The company is issuing up to 4,837,066 of the bonus warrant shares, representing a potential capital boost of $65 million if all are exercised. The offer expires on September 30.

Announcing the bonus warrant shares on June 23, Warren McLeland, chairman of Somers, said: “The bonus warrant issue offers qualifying shareholders an opportunity to those shareholders who would like to participate in the growth of the company.

“It enables Somers to significantly reduce its debt burden, thereby freeing up cash flow to invest in new opportunities or to support existing investments.”

Somers has a market capitalisation of $187.9 million. Its shares were yesterday trading at $13 on the BSX.