Pires Investments  (AIM: PIRI ) noted this morning the sale of 3,362,000 VR Education (AIM: VRE.L) shares by Sure Valley Ventures (“SVV”) who has received gross proceeds of £522,422 in return.

London-listed Pires holds its interest in VR Education through its 13% holding in entrepreneur-led VC fund SVV.

The funds received from the sale of shares will be distributed to SVV's investors, with Pires expected to receive around £65,000 in due course.

SVV sees VR Education as having significant growth potential, Pires noted in this morning’s statement, after the group recently announced that HTC Corporation has agreed to invest €3.0 million in the business and enter into a strategic partnership for the distribution and license of its ENGAGE platform globally through HTC enterprise sales channels.

As a result, SVV said it plans to retain the balance of its shareholding which comprises 10,578,580 shares, equivalent to a 4.38% shareholding in the company.

The group’s ongoing shareholding is therefore valued at £1.82 million based on the closing mid-market price of 17.25p on Friday 19 June 2020, while VR Education’s current share price represents some 465% of the price at which SVV made its initial investment. 

Shares in Pires Investments closed at 3.65p on Friday afternoon.

"Thanks to the continued progress made by VR Education over recent months, we are delighted to note SVV's partial sale of shares to return its initial investment made into VR Education,” said Peter Redmond, Chairman of Pires Investments.

This morning’s news marks the second distribution of funds that Pires will have received from its investment in SVV since it was made around seven months ago. 

The first distribution from Pires' investment related to the sale of Artomatix, which was announced in December 2019, generating a return of €803,275 to Pires.

“We believe that this realisation is further endorsement of Pires' investment strategy and, with the software technology sector poised for further growth, we therefore hope this is the second of many,” Redmond added.

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