UK Commercial Property Trust raises £150m for acquisitions
The UK Commercial Property Trust Limited (the Trust), the UK's largest UK Commercial Property Investment Trust, is pleased to announce that the recent placing and offer of 195 million ordinary shares at an issue price of 77.1 pence per share has been fully subscribed, raising gross proceeds of approximately £150 million for new acquisitions.
As a consequence of the capital raising, the assets under management of the Trust have grown to approximately £920 million.
In conjunction with other advisers to the Trust, Ignis Asset Management has assisted the Trust in raising £150m of new equity at a 6.0% premium to the adjusted end of December net asset value.
Gary Hutcheson, head of property at Ignis Asset Management, says; "This represents a significant vote of confidence in the Trust and its management team at a time when a number of other capital raising exercises have been deeply discounted."
Christopher M W Hill, Chairman of the Trust commented: "I am extremely pleased to see that we have been able to raise additional capital for the Company without dilution of the existing shareholders. This puts our managers in a strong position to continue the successful development and performance of the Company."
New capital has been injected by a number of new and existing investors including the Pearl Group who invested £50 million in the Placing. The most recent Placing has further widened the shareholder base of the Trust with Pearl Group now representing approximately 66% of issued share capital.
On behalf of the Trust, Ignis Asset Management has identified and is currently progressing with the acquisition of £60m of retail stock with an initial yield of approximately 7.0%. The remainder of the new capital raised will be used to acquire further commercial properties that will improve income and capital prospects for the portfolio going forward.
The Trust was one of the best performing UK commercial property investment trusts last year and initial indications are that the Trust's total return for 2009, when finalised, will be in the order of 11.3% putting it in the top decile against its IPD benchmark.