Yew Grove REIT plc (LON:YEW), which owns a diversified portfolio of Irish commercial property assets, today announced a proposed placing and director’s subscription to raise a minimum of €10 million of gross proceeds via an issue of new ordinary shares of nominal value €0.01 in the Company, each at a price of €0.95.
Pursuant to the Subscription, certain directors of the Company, including Jonathan Laredo, Chief Executive Officer and Charles Peach, Chief Financial Officer, intend to subscribe for 157,368 new ordinary shares of nominal value €0.01 in the Company at the Placing Price, and in aggregate to contribute approximately €150,000.
The shares issued via the Placing and the Subscription Shares will represent the first Tranche of the Company’s 100 million Share Issuance Programme that was approved by shareholders on 29 May 2020.
In relation to the Placing, Goodbody Stockbrokers UC is acting as Joint Broker, Joint Bookrunner and Euronext Growth Adviser to the Company, Liberum Capital Limited is acting as Joint Broker, Joint Bookrunner and Nominated Adviser to the Company, and Guy Butler Limited is acting as Placing Agent to the Company.
Highlights
| · Placing and Subscription to raise a minimum of €10 million gross proceeds via an issue of approximately 10.5 million New Shares at the Placing Price of €0.95, representing the first Tranche of the Company’s Share Issuance Programme. · The Share Issuance Programme is intended to fund the acquisition of assets that fit the Company’s investment policy. |
| · The Company has a near term identified acquisition pipeline of approximately €72 million (including costs). The seven pipeline properties have net investment yields (“NIY”) of between 6.83% – 8.25%, and short-term reversionary yields of between 7.51% – 9.20%. · Six out of seven pipeline assets (approximately €51 million) have been approved by the Investment Committee and the Investment Manager and the Company is in active engagement with potential vendors. · The increase in capital, together with acquisitions of good quality income-generating assets, should enable the Company to benefit from operating leverage, improve shareholder liquidity and drive returns. |
| · Members of the Board intend to invest in aggregate approximately €150,000 in the Subscription. |
| · The Board continues to believe that consolidation within the Company’s target market offers the opportunity to build a €300-500 million portfolio of high-yielding, high-quality assets over the medium term. |
Jonathan Laredo, Yew Grove REIT Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“Following the slow down in commercial property activity triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic we are pleased to raise capital to take advantage of some of the more immediate investment opportunities we see in our target market. Our first mover advantage in consolidating the market will allow our shareholders to benefit from the strength of the FDI tenancies and the tenant led market dynamics outside of Dublin’s CBD. We have identified a strong pipeline of future potential acquisition opportunities and look forward to the continued support of shareholders to help Yew Grove to achieve its goals and deliver value to all of our shareholders.”
