28 June 2011
REAL ESTATE INVESTORS PLC
(“REI” or the “Company” or the “Group”)
Placing to raise up to £15 million
Real Estate Investors plc (AIM:RLE), the West Midlands based property group, announces that it proposes to raise gross proceeds of up to £15 million (approximately £14.7 million net of expenses) through the issue of up to 272,727,277 New Ordinary Shares by way of a Placing at a price of 5.5p per New Ordinary Share. The Placing is being carried out to allow REI to capitalise on opportunities to acquire prime and quality secondary properties in the West Midlands in a capital starved market.
Liberum Capital Limited is acting as Broker and Smith & Williamson as Nominated Adviser in relation to the Placing.
Summary:
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– Under the Placing, REI intends to place up to 272,727,277 New Ordinary Shares, representing a 55% increase in the number of Ordinary Shares in issue. |
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– The Placing price is 5.5p, representing a 4.3% discount to the closing mid market price of 5.75p per Ordinary Share prevailing on the AIM market on 27 June 2011 (the last practicable date prior to the issue of this announcement). |
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– The Company is a West Midlands focussed property investment company specialising in investment in offices, shops, residential properties and land, in lot sizes between £1 million and £10 million, and through its in depth knowledge of the local occupier market via its agency associations with CP Bigwood Chartered Surveyors and The Bond Wolfe Partnership, is ideally positioned to become a cash purchaser of acquisition opportunities emerging from a range of sources. |
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– The Directors of REI consider that the Company’s existing business model is suited to conversion to a REIT structure and the Board will continue to consider the appropriateness of a conversion to a REIT structure in future. |
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– The Placing is being carried out to provide REI with additional resources to capitalise on acquisition opportunities currently existing in the West Midlands from motivated vendors. The Company has been in discussions in relation to a pipeline of opportunities with an aggregate value of approximately £50 million. |
The Placing is conditional upon, amongst other things, the approval of shareholders at a General Meeting. REI will shortly issue a shareholder circular in connection with the Placing and will convene a General Meeting to approve matters necessary to implement the Placing.
A further announcement regarding the Placing will be made in due course.
Paul Bassi, Chief Executive of REI said: “It is our objective to capitalise on opportunities that are available to us in the Midlands property market and significantly grow our portfolio within the next 6 to 12 months.”
For further information:
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Real Estate Investors PLC Paul Bassi |
+44 (0)121 265 6400 |
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Liberum Capital Limited Chris Bowman / Richard Bootle |
+44 (0)20 3100 2000
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Smith & Williamson Corporate Finance Limited Azhic Basirov / Siobhan Sergeant |
+44 (0)20 7131 4000
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Tavistock Communications Jeremy Carey |
+44 (0)20 7920 3150 |
Notes to Editors
1. REI is an AIM listed property investment company specialising in commercial and residential property principally in the West Midlands and central England.
2. REI is focused on delivering shareholder value through returns generated from strong yields and capital enhancements. This is achieved by targeting investments in orphaned, distressed, part-let and underperforming commercial and residential property assets.
3. REI is led by respected property investor Paul Bassi CBE, who has over 25 years of property experience in the West Midlands. Mr Bassi is also founder and chairman of Bond Wolfe and chairman of CP Bigwood Chartered Surveyors.
4. REI was admitted to trading on AIM in June 2004 and has subsequently raised a total of £35 million in further equity issues as well as debt financing to grow its property portfolio. As at 31 December 2010, its portfolio and inventories were valued at £56 million.
5. Further information on REI can be found at www.reiplc.barques.dev.
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