1st Apr 2008 07:01
Raven Mount plc01 April 2008 Raven Mount plc ("Raven Mount") 1 April 2008 New Project Bank Facilities Signed Raven Mount is pleased to announce that the Group has signed two new bankfacilities, namely on Raven Audley Court's ("RAC") Clevedon, Ilkley developmentand on The Lakes, Cotswold development, the combination of which immediatelyreleases £17m to Group resources. The net utilisation of the Group's additional£40.0m of bank facilities has reduced to £4.5m. RAC, Raven Mount's Independent Living business which trades as Audley, hassigned a £17.3m development facility agreement with Bank of Scotland Corporatein respect of its Clevedon, Ilkley development. This facility will fund allfuture development costs and first drawdown includes the refinancing of the siteacquisition and design costs to date which were previously funded from Groupresources. Raven Mount, through its Audley brand, is actively involved in thedevelopment and management of Independent Living facilities for the elderly.Clevedon comprises the development of 98 Independent Living homes set on theoutskirts of the historic town of Ilkley. This facility together with thosealready in existence at other Audley developments, namely Mote, Maidstone and StElphins, Matlock, provides approximately £45m of total bank funding for theseAudley developments, of which £21m is available to be drawn down to complete thedevelopments. In addition, Coln Park LLP, the Group's joint venture with Yoo at Lechlade inthe Cotswolds, has signed a £13.9m facility agreement with Anglo Irish Bank.This facility will fund the infrastructure costs relating to the current phaseof 48 units and in addition refinances the site acquisition. Mark Kirkland, Finance Director of Raven Mount said; "Given the current climate, we are delighted to have concluded these two newfacilities which releases significant resources to the Group" Enquires: Mark Kirkland, Finance Director, Raven Mount plc - 0207 235 0422 Guy Peters, Nominated Adviser, Shore Capital and Corporate Limited - 020 7408 4090 Notes for Editors: Raven Mount is an AIM quoted company whose principal areas of operation are property fund management, property development and the developmentand operation of Independent Living facilities. Raven Mount was founded in November 2003 by Anton Bilton (Executive Chairman),Bim Sandhu (Chief Executive) and Glyn Hirsch (Executive Deputy Chairman) andtook control of Swan Hill Group PLC, the housebuilder, in December 2003 in ahostile takeover supported by Swan Hill's four largest shareholders. In December 2004, shareholders approved the reversal of Anton Bilton and BimSandhu's private residential development group, Raven Property Holdings plc, fora total consideration of up to £39.9 million payable in Raven Mount shares andbegan a strategic reinvention of the business. In July 2005, Raven Mount subscribed £10 million towards the £153 millionflotation of Raven Russia Limited ('Raven Russia') on AIM. Raven Russia wasformed at Raven Mount's instigation as a vehicle for institutional shareholdersto invest in the Russian property market with an initial focus on the Warehouseproperty market in the Moscow and St Petersburg regions. Raven Mount's whollyowned subsidiary, Raven Russia Property Management Limited, acts as the propertyadviser to Raven Russia. In April 2006, Raven Russia raised a further £310million through the placing of 270 million shares at £1.15 per share. Raven Mount is actively involved in the development and management of Independent Living facilities for the elderly through its Audley brand in whichit has a 75% interest with the remaining 25% being owned by the management team. Audley has commenced development on four separate schemes, representing a totalof 408 individual units, at St. Elphins (Matlock, 127 units), Mote House (Maidstone, 87 units), Inglewood (Berkshire, 96 units), and Ilkley (Yorkshire,98 units). Audley owns and manages existing facilities at Willicombe Park(Tunbridge Wells, 67 units), Flete House (Devon, 30 units) and manages HollinsHall (Harrogate, 171 units), totalling 168 units under management. In addition, Raven Mount continues to investigate suitable resort/second homeopportunities, both in the UK and internationally. Raven Mount has outlineplanning consent, in a joint venture with John Hitchcox and Yoo Limited,comprising a hotel and 160 second homes in 650 acres at Coln in the Cotswolds,of which it currently has detailed consent for 52 units. www.theravengroup.co.ukwww.audleylife.co.ukwww.thelakesbyyoo.comwww.ravenrussia.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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