Green REIT plans to raise €400m

Green REIT plans to raise €400m through a share placement to take advantage of further investment opportunities in the commercial property market.

The firm announced yesterday that it will issue 356,969,696 new ordinary shares at €1.12 per share, which is a 5.5% discount on its closing price on Thursday. It hopes to raise €385m net of expenses, the company said in a statement.

“The management team, led by Stephen Vernon and Pat Gunne, focuses on creating both sustainable income and strong capital returns for the group with a target total shareholder return of 10% to 15% per annum (pre-taxation), both when the original net proceeds are fully invested and when the net proceeds are fully invested,” it added.

Green REIT was the first real estate investment trust to list on the Irish stock market last June when it raised €300m. Most recently, it bought the €311.5m Central Park portfolio from Nama in a 50:50 split with Pimco.

In a busy day on the Irish market, it was also announced that the Irish Residential Properties REIT plans to float on the Dublin stock exchange, becoming the third such real estate investment trust to launch in the last year as Ireland’s property market stabilises.

Irish Residential Properties REIT, with a portfolio of 338 residential units in the greater Dublin area valued at €45.5m, aims to raise €200m in the listing.

Apart from Green REIT, Hibernia REIT also listed on the Irish market in the past year after the Government made changes to permit the establishment of trusts which allow investors to own property via a company rather than being direct landlords.

Irish property prices are rising again, after plunging by around 50% when a real estate bubble burst, wreaking havoc on the country’s banks and pushing the country into the EU/IMF bailout, which it left last year.

Irish house prices rose by 0.1% month-on-month in February and were 8.1% higher than a year ago.

Additional reporting Reuters