PE firm SVG Capital to sell investment portfolio to HarbourVest

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Britain's SVG Capital Plc agreed to sell its investment portfolio to HarbourVest for about 807 million pounds ($991 million) after the private equity firm elbowed out Goldman Sachs Group Inc-led consortium with a sweetened offer.

SVG said HarbourVest's offer of 715 pence per share represents a 0.6 percent premium to the value of its investment portfolio at the end of July.

The company had previously accepted an offer of 680 pence per share, or 748 million pounds, from Goldman and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for the portfolio.

SVG said the portfolio sale and a wind down of the company would generate superior value, compared with HarbourVest's $1.35 billion bid for the entire company and Goldman's offer.

SVG said on Tuesday that its expected to return about 1.12 billion pounds to shareholders through a series of tender offers.

HarbourVest confirmed the portfolio purchase and said its offer for the whole company would lapse on Tuesday.

HarbourVest launched a bid for the company on Sept. 12, saying it was taking advantage of a weaker pound, following the Brexit vote, to snap up assets with good short-term growth prospects.

Investors have been frustrated for years with Britain's listed private equity sector as it has traded at a discount to the value of its assets, prompting some activist investors to step in.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

J.P. Morgan Cazenove, Lazard & Co and Numis Securities are SVG's financial advisers.

SVG shares were up 2.18 percent at 703 pence at 1306 GMT on the London Stock Exchange.

($1 = 0.8137 pounds) (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)