31st Mar 2006 12:30
Raven Mount plc31 March 2006 Fundraising by Raven Russia Raven Mount Plc ("Raven Mount"), through its wholly owned subsidiary RavenRussia Property Management Limited, acts as property adviser to Raven RussiaLimited ("Raven Russia"). Reproduced below is the full text of an announcement made today by Raven Russia.The circular being issued to Raven Russia shareholders is today being sent toRaven Mount shareholders for information purposes only. The proposals impact Raven Mount's results for the year ended 31 December 2005.Consequently, Raven Mount's 2005 preliminary results have been delayed and willbe announced as soon as practicable following the Raven Russia EGM on 26 April2006. Commenting on the Raven Russia fundraising, Anton Bilton, Chairman said: "The establishment of Raven Russia was a major step in our reinvention of RavenMount. We are delighted that we have advised Raven Russia in the acquisition ofapproximately $270 million of warehouse properties to date. Our strong localpartnerships and established contacts have enabled a very proactive investmentprogram. This substantial fundraising demonstrates fantastic market backing forthe Raven Russia proposition and the pipeline of further investmentopportunities identified by Raven Mount." Bim Sandhu, Chief Executive added: "This is a very significant development for Raven Mount in a core business area. I wish to thank my fellow executive directors Anton Bilton and Glyn Hirsch aswell as our property fund management team for the substantial progress that hasbeen made since Raven Russia's launch last year. I believe this has givenconfidence to Raven Russia's investors about our continuing ability to deliverattractive investment property assets in the Russian market." Contacts: Anton Bilton, Bim Sandhu, Glyn Hirsch Raven Mount Plc 020 7235 0422 Notes for Editors on Raven Mount Plc: Raven Mount is an AIM listed company whose principle areas of operation areproperty fund management, property development and the development and operationof assisted living facilities. Raven Mount was founded in November 2003 by Anton Bilton (Chairman), Bim Sandhu(Chief Executive) and Glyn Hirsch (Vice-Chairman) and took control of Swan HillGroup plc, the housebuilder, in December 2003 in a hostile takeover supported bySwan 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 ("The Raven Group"), for a total consideration of up to £40m all payable in RavenMount shares and began a process of 'reinvention'. In July 2005 Raven Mount contributed £10m in the £153m flotation of Raven RussiaLimited which was formed at Raven Mount's instigation as a conduit forinstitutional shareholders to invest in the Russian property market with aninitial focus on the Warehouse market in the Moscow and St Petersburg regions. The Company is actively involved in the development and management of assistedliving facilities through its Audley Court brand. The principle shareholders of the company are Anton Bilton, Chairman, and BimSandhu, Chief Executive, whose interests own 43% of the company. Other majorshareholders include Schroder Investment Management (13%), SilchesterInternational Investors (7%), UBS Global Asset Management Life Ltd (6%) andDeutsche Bank AG London (6%) and Laxey (4%). Full text of announcement made today by Raven Russia: "Not for release, publication or distribution in whole or in part, in or intothe United States of America, Canada, Australia, the Republic of Ireland, theRepublic of South Africa, Japan or any other jurisdiction if to do so wouldconstitute a violation of the relevant laws of such jurisdiction RAVEN RUSSIA LIMITED PROPOSED PLACING OF 269,565,210 NEW ORDINARY SHARES AT 115p PER SHARE TO RAISE £310 MILLION Raven Russia Limited ("Raven Russia" or the "Company") announces proposals toraise £310 million (before expenses) through a placing (the "Placing") of269,565,210 new ordinary shares of 1p each ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of115p per share. The proceeds of the Placing of approximately £300 million afterexpenses will be used to fund the Company's on-going investment programme. Raven Russia was formed in July 2005 to invest in the Russian property marketwith an initial focus on the warehouse market in the Moscow and St. Petersburgregions. The Company was admitted to AIM at that time and raised £153 millionthrough a placing of Ordinary Shares. The Company seeks to generate anattractive rate of return for Shareholders by taking advantage of propertyopportunities in Russia. The Placing is subject to admission of the new Ordinary Shares to trading on AIMand the approval of the Company's shareholders. An EGM has been convened for 26April 2006 to consider a number of resolutions relating to the proposals.Application will be made for the new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to tradingon AIM and, if shareholder approval is received, it is expected that admissionwill occur and dealings will commence on 27 April 2006. The new Ordinary Shareswill rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares traded onAIM. The Company's results for the period ended 31 December 2005 are expected to bereleased shortly after the EGM. Cenkos Securities Limited is acting as broker to the Company for the purpose ofthe Placing. Raven Russia is being advised by Kinmont Limited and CenkosSecurities Limited. A circular describing the proposals will be dispatched toshareholders today. Comments Adrian Collins, Non-executive Chairman of Raven Russia, today said: "We are very pleased with the level of support from existing and new investors.Our property managers have made a strong start to their investment programme andthe Placing will enable us to maintain our momentum." Glyn Hirsch, Deputy Chairman of Raven Mount (property adviser to Raven Russia)added: "We continue to make good progress on a number of fronts. Our groundwork inRussia prior to the admission of Raven Russia to AIM put us in a strong positionon flotation and we have built on that position by committing approximately $270million to transactions, and building a pipeline of future projects. As both ashareholder and the property manager, Raven Mount is excited by the prospectsfor Raven Russia." Contacts Raven Russia Adrian Collins 020 7409 3494 Raven Mount Anton Bilton/GlynHirsch/Bim Sandhu(Property Adviser to Raven Russia) 020 7235 0422 Cardew Group Anthony Cardew 020 7930 0777 Kinmont Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial ServicesAuthority, is acting for Raven Russia and no one else in connection with thematters referred to above and will not be responsible to anyone other than RavenRussia for providing the protections afforded to its customers or for providingadvice to any other person in relation to the matters referred to above. Cenkos Securities Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the FinancialServices Authority, is acting for Raven Russia and no one else in connectionwith the matters referred to above and will not be responsible to anyone otherthan Raven Russia for providing the protections afforded to its customers or forproviding advice to any other person in relation to the matters referred toabove. This announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation tosell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to acquire, purchase orsubscribe for any securities. This announcement has not been examined orapproved by the FSA or the London Stock Exchange or any other regulatoryauthority. Copies of the circular describing the proposals will be available free of chargeuntil 1 May 2006 at the offices of Cenkos Securities Limited, 6.7.8 TokenhouseYard, London EC2R 7AS during usual business hours on any weekday (publicholidays excepted). Notes to Editors Raven Russia was formed in July 2005 to invest in the Russian property marketwith an initial focus on the warehouse market in the Moscow and St. Petersburgregions. The Company was admitted to AIM at that time and raised £153 millionthrough a placing of Ordinary Shares. The Company seeks to generate anattractive rate of return for shareholders by taking advantage of propertyopportunities in Russia. The Directors consider that the Russian commercial property market, inparticular the Russian warehouse market, continues to present an attractiveinvestment opportunity due to: • the high yields available in the Russian property marketrelative to other European markets; • the level of excess demand for modern, high quality warehousespace; • the demand for warehouse space from blue-chip, internationaland domestic Russian tenants; • the longer-term prospects for price appreciation and theeventual redevelopment potential of a property portfolio with a high landcontent; and • the practice of rental payments being predominantly denominatedin US dollars. Whilst the Company focuses on the warehouse market, it may invest across thespectrum of real estate in Russia, provided that the investment fits within itsinvestment objectives and policies. Prior to the Company's flotation in July 2005, the executive directors of RavenMount spent a significant period of time researching the Russian real estatemarket and identifying potential local real estate partners. Raven Mount,through its subsidiaries, now has a team of 15 professionals working on theCompany's affairs. On 8 December 2005 the Company announced that it had exchanged contracts toforward fund and commit to purchase a complex of four freehold Grade A logisticswarehouses in the Moscow region comprising approximately 114,000 square metres(1,277,100 square feet) for a total purchase price of US$110 million.Approximately 50 per cent. of the project is pre-let to National LogisticsCompany, a leading Russian logistics operator. The remaining space will be leton the open market. On 15 December 2005 the Company completed the acquisition of twonewly-constructed warehouses located in Moscow and the Moscow region comprisingapproximately 41,600 square metres (447,550 square feet) of Grade A space. Bothproperties are fully let. The purchase price of the properties was US$42million (after taking into account assumed indebtedness). On 23 March 2006 the Company announced that it had signed a binding agreement toforward fund and develop a 128,000 square metres (1,377,000 square feet)logistics and distribution complex in a 50:50 joint venture with Avalon Group, acompany with interests in commercial real estate, logistics and consumer goods.The project is 50 per cent. pre-let to Avalon Logistics on a 10 year leasewithout a break. The end value of the project, once built, is estimated atUS$113 million, structured to produce a net yield to the joint venture of 15.5per cent. The Company perceives there to be a number of good opportunities in the forwardfunding of developments conforming to its stated investment criteria. Theseopportunities would typically be pursued in partnership with a local developer.Raven Russia's investment programme with its local partners continues to grow,with a significant number of opportunities under joint consideration. Asenvisaged at the time of flotation, a number of sale and leaseback and tenantpartnering opportunities have become available to the Company with both Russianand multinational companies. Furthermore as its standing has grown in theRussian market, the Company has been able to expand its network of potentialpartners in the development arena." This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
RAV.LRAV.L