8th Nov 2021 17:17
(Alliance News) - Sirius Real Estate Ltd late Monday said it raised GBP137 million, with the proceeds set to go to the acquisition of Helix Investments Ltd announced earlier.
The firm raised GBP137 million via the placing of 105.3 million shares at 130 pence each. Sirius set out to raise GBP135 million, as announced early Monday. The number of shares places reflects 10% of the company's issued share capital.
Sirius shares ended 4.5% lower at 131.80 pence on Monday in London.
Earlier Monday, it reported a stronger interim performance, with a double-digit rise in profit through gains from property revaluations and growth in revenue.
In a separate release, the Germany-focused operator of business parks, offices and industrial complexes said it had agreed to acquire Helix Investments - which holds flexible workspace provider BizSpace Group - for GBP245 million, based on an enterprise value of GBP380 million.
The acquisition will be funded through the group's existing cash resources, an EUR75 million revolving credit facility and proceeds from the capital raise.
Joh Berenberg, Gossler & Co JG, HSBC Bank, Panmure Gordon UK and Peel Hunt LLP acted as global coordinators and bookrunners.
The acquisition is expected to provide the group with a high-quality portfolio in a market with supply constraints and organic growth potential in rental pricing.
"The acquisition of BizSpace brings with it an experienced and enthusiastic management team that we believe will be a good fit with the culture of Sirius' current management team and I look forward to building on the existing relationships between our businesses. The transaction provides an opportunity to enter a new geography at scale and extends our successful strategy to target highly strategic locations and assets in order to generate sustainable and growing returns on behalf of investors," said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Coombs.
Turning to its interim results for the six months ended September 30, the group posted pretax profit at EUR78.2 million, up 26% from EUR62.2 million a year prior, partly through a higher gain on the value of investment properties at EUR49.5 million from EUR31.9 million.
In addition, revenue grew 11% year-on-year to EUR88.4 million from ER79.3 million, driven by a rise in rental and service income from both managed and investment properties.
As at September 30, net asset value per share increased 14% to 92.62 euro cents from 81.18 cents the same date a year before and 4.9% from 88.31 cents at the end of March.
Meanwhile, Sirius Real Estate's portfolio value increased 16% to EUR1.43 billion from EUR1.23 billion the same date a year prior, and 5.9% from EUR1.35 billion at the end of March.
Sirius declared a dividend of 2.04 euro cents per share, up 12% from 1.82 cents a year prior.
Looking ahead, Sirius said it is on-track to trade in line with expectations for the full year.
Finally, the group has appointed Joanne Kenrick as non-executive director.
By Dayo Laniyan, [email protected]; updated by Greg Roxburgh, [email protected]
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