Sarah Raven
Sarah Raven’s Kitchen & Garden Limited (“Sarah Raven”) is an online lifestyle gardening brand, providing a broad range of seeds, seedlings, plants and bulbs as well as gardening kit and home and lifestyle products.
Sustainability is central to the company’s aspirations and it has a keen focus on reduction, recycling and repurposing. Its Rookery Farm plant nursery uses biomass boilers to heat its greenhouses using fuel from local waste wood and cardboard and saves significant water by harvesting rain collected in its own reservoirs to water its plants. The company has clear intentions around peat use, championing pollinators and methods of growing that support wildlife populations, sourcing plants locally and advocating integrated pest management strategies. Sarah Raven secured Planet Mark certification in 2023, demonstrating its commitment to measuring and reducing its carbon emissions.
Key terms
Issuer
Sarah Raven’s Kitchen and Garden Limited
Term
5 years, repayable on 30 September 2028
Interest
7.5% gross per year. Payable in arrears on 30 September each year (paid net of UK basic rate tax unless held in an IFISA) with the first payment on 30 September 2024. Payment of interest and repayment of capital are not
guaranteed.
Early repayment
Sarah Raven has the right to repay the bonds without penalty from 30 September 2025.
Security
The bonds are unsecured, which means that bondholders will rank equally with Sarah Raven’s other unsecured creditors and behind secured and preferential creditors on an insolvency.
Transferability
Bonds are transferable but are not listed on any investment exchange which means that bondholders will have to find a willing buyer and agree a purchase price with them, which in practice may not be easy. Investors
should be prepared to hold the bonds for their full five-year term.
Covenant
A gearing covenant applies which places a limit on the group’s total permitted borrowings. Whilst the bonds remain outstanding, payment of dividends to any shareholder are only permitted subject to the retention of a minimum cash balance of £100,000 immediately after any such payment. An annual dividend cap also applies. A breach of any covenant constitutes an event of default.
Minimum raise
£900,000. If less than £900,000 is raised, monies will be returned to investors with no accrued interest.
Timetable
Closes on 18 July 2023, unless fully subscribed earlier or the offer is extended. Bonds are allotted 14 days after close and investors start to accrue interest from that date.
Capital at risk warning
Past performance is not an indication of future
performance. Capital is at risk and returns are not guaranteed. Investors
should read the offer document in full, including the risks section, before
deciding whether to invest.