Almost a year ago I wrote about the pending liquidation of Sio Gene Therapies (OTCMKTS:SIOX) with the expectation that a first liquidation distribution would be made in a couple of months. It took a lot more time than initially estimated, apparently because it was more time consuming than expected to liquidate some of the foreign subsidiaries. But the long wait was worth it, because today we finally got a press release with a small surprise to the upside. The initial liquidation distribution will be $0.435/share while the company originally provided a range between $0.38 and $0.42/share. My guess is that we can thank the current interest rate environment for this bump in combination with the delay.

A key part of the investment thesis in Sio Gene Therapies was the expectation that after the initial liquidation distribution we could expect one or more additional distributions. The company is keeping $7.2 million as a contingency reserve, and in the initial proxy statement the possibility of distributing this money to shareholders wasn’t even mentioned. This could add up to $0.10/share, and in the latest press release at least they write something about distributing excess cash (subject to uncertainties inherent in winding up the business). Might take a couple of years or more, but I expect to get something at some point.

Disclosure

Author is long Sio Gene Therapies