Business park and storage warehouse owner Sirius Real Estate has raised £146.6m (R3.4bn) as the company eyes further acquisitions after buying properties in Liverpool, Barnsley and three in the north of London for about £45m.
The company, valued at about R24bn on the JSE, will issue 170.4-million new shares will now be issued, about 14.5% of the number of shares currently available, bringing the new total to 1.35-billion shares.
“The success of this capital raise is a strong endorsement of our ongoing strategy for growth as well as the track record of strong operational performance and value creation we continue to achieve,” CEO Andrew Coombs said. “We are particularly encouraged by the strong demand we have seen for the raise from both existing and new institutions, as well as from our retail offering.”
The offer price of 86p is a 0.1% discount to the 30-day volume weighted average price of 86.1p on the JSE on November 17.
The company’s portfolio comprises 139 properties in the UK and Germany valued at more than €2.1bn, and includes offices, storage and warehouses.
“The directors believe that the conditions in those markets currently present a significant near-term pipeline of attractive acquisition opportunities, and the [proposed] capital raise will provide the flexibility to execute on that pipeline and replenish funds to use opportunistically following several acquisitions in recent months,” it said.
It has identified eight properties that meet its criteria of underutilised, multi-let mixed-use properties mostly outside city centres in areas that have high commercial densities, industrial activity and good transport links.
“Of the identified pipeline, four are based in Germany and would require about €85m of acquisition cost, and four are based in the UK and would require about £45m,” it said.
In an interview on Monday, Coombs said current prices were attractive for ensuring healthy long-term growth.
“If you sit on your hands right now and don’t buy at cheap prices, and become a victim of those high interest rates that lock in for the future, I don’t know how you can make money in this business,” he said.
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