Yew Grove REIT (LON:YEW), which owns a diversified portfolio of Irish commercial property assets, has announced the proposed issue of approximately 20 million New Shares of nominal value €0.01, each at a price of €0.97. These New Shares will represent the second Tranche of the Company’s 100 million Share Issuance Programme that was announced on 13 June 2019.
Highlights
· Proposed Placing of approximately 20 million Placing Shares at the Placing Price of €0.97 each, representing the second 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, and the increase in capital, together with acquisitions of good quality income-generating assets, will help to increase the Company’s dividend capacity and improve cost ratios.
· The issue will enhance Yew Grove’s position as first mover in its target market, allowing it to take advantage of the market’s strong occupier demand driving rents for office and industrial property higher.
· The Company has identified eight attractive properties that are available for acquisition, with a total cost of approximately €72 million in aggregate, representing a net investment yield (“NIY”) of between 5.0%-6.0%, and with a short-term reversionary yield of between 7.0%-9.5%.
· Additionally, the Company has identified a pipeline with a total cost of approximately €130m which is being progressed.
· 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, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“Since our IPO last year we have built a strong portfolio of diversified and differentiated Irish commercial property, offering attractive yields. With the new funds we are raising as part of our Share Issuance Programme we have the opportunity to significantly expand this portfolio and take advantage of the investment opportunities we see in our target areas of the Irish commercial property market. Our first mover advantage in consolidating the market will allow our shareholders to benefit from the strength of the Irish economy and the tenant led market demand dynamics outside of Dublin’s CBD.
“We have already identified a strong pipeline of potential acquisition opportunities and we continue to review further investments.
“We look forward to the continued support of shareholders to help Yew Grove to achieve its goals and deliver value to all of our shareholders.”
Goodbody Stockbrokers UC (“Goodbody“) is acting as Joint Broker and Sole Bookrunner in relation to the Proposed Placing, Investec Bank plc is acting as Joint Broker and Nominated Adviser to the Company, Investec Europe Limited trading as Investec Europe is acting as Joint Broker and Euronext Growth Advisor to the Company, and Guy Butler Limited (“Guy Butler“) is acting as Placing Agent to the Company in relation to the Proposed Placing.
The person responsible for arranging the release of this Announcement on behalf of the Company is Charles Peach.
