Shaires Holdings (LON: SHR), an AIM-listed vehicle giving public investors exposure to late-stage private technology companies, has disclosed its first portfolio: agreements worth up to $86.7 million covering seven names including Anthropic, Stripe and ByteDance. Its shares are currently paused from trading.
Shaires shares last traded at a $24.50 mid-market close on Wednesday. From 7:30am today they entered a voluntary halt, called a Capital Access Window under updated AIM rules, that will run until a retail share offer closes on 18 August. No live price is available while the pause continues.
The largest slice of exposure, up to $40 million across Anthropic, Stripe and Figure AI, comes through option agreements with Rizvi Traverse, a private investment firm controlled by Shaires’ Executive Chairman, Suhail Rizvi. The deal is classed as an AIM Rule 13 related-party transaction, requiring extra disclosure because it involves someone connected to management; Rizvi did not take part in the board’s review of the terms. Vice Chairman Shervin Pishevar said the agreements give shareholders exposure “on attractive terms” to “three of the most important private technology companies in the world,” adding that independent directors were “satisfied that the terms are fair and reasonable.”
The remaining stakes, in ByteDance, Moonshot AI, SandboxAQ and Colossal Biosciences, were funded through cash and new Shaires shares issued at $20 each, also the price set for the new UK retail offer, an 18% discount to Wednesday’s $24.50 close, distributed via broker Marex’s WRAP platform. None of the seven companies is listed or publishes audited accounts, so the valuations used, including Anthropic’s $965bn private funding round and Stripe’s $159bn tender price, are unaudited management estimates with no independent market to verify them.
Executive Chairman Suhail Rizvi said the sector had moved past its early speculative phase, arguing that Shaires now faced “a set of companies that have crossed from promise into performance.” Chief Executive Vivek Seth said the offer structure meant institutional and retail buyers, and founders contributing stock, would “end up owning exactly the same thing, at the same price, at the same time.”
Shaires is targeting a total capital raise of $100 million and says it is in advanced talks over further deals worth up to $500 million, though those discussions remain unconfirmed. The retail offer closes at 4:30pm on 18 August, with results expected the following day.