£110m equity fundraising on the London Stock Exchange
About the client:
Empiric Student Property plc is an internally managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”) investing in modern, direct-let, premium student accommodation, both standing and development assets, with assets in prime central locations in top university cities and towns in the UK.
About the transaction:
This fundraise was conducted for a specific portfolio of assets in London, which will add in excess of 1,000 beds to the wider Empiric portfolio.
The fundraise was a single Prospectus issue comprising a Placing, an Open Offer, Offer for Subscription, and Intermediaries Offer
£350m equity fundraising on the London Stock Exchange
About the client:
Tritax Big Box is the leader in UK Big Box real estate investment and is the first listed entity to give pure exposure to the Big Box asset class in the UK – advised by Akur since 2012
About the transaction:
Significantly over-subscribed, the fundraise was increased from a target of £200m to the hard cap of £350m, at which level there was significant further demand.
BBOX focuses on large scale logistics assets let to blue chip clients, providing scale and automation to major on-line retailers.
£350m equity fundraising on the London Stock Exchange
About the client:
Tritax Big Box is a leader in UK Big Box real estate investment and is the first listed entity to give pure exposure to the Big Box asset class in the UK – advised by Akur since 2012
About the transaction:
Significantly over-subscribed, the fundraise was increased from a target of £150m to the hard cap of £350m, even at this level there was significant further demand. For the first time in the Company’s history BBOX exchanged contracts ahead of the completion of the fundraise, in this case to acquire £172m of assets – comprising three Big Box assets, let to the Co-operative Group, Whirlpool and Euro Car Parts – the vendor was a gated open-ended property fund needing liquidity. Comprising a Placing, an Open Offer, and Offer for Subscription, this substantial transaction further supports BBOX’s place as the UK’s listed “ logistics giant* ”.
BBOX focuses on large scale logistics assets let to blue chip clients, providing scale and automation to major on-line retailers.
£25m structured equity – funding the development of 1,000 new PRS homes
About the client:
PlaceFirst is one of the UK’s only integrated specialists in the Private Rented Sector (PRS) as a developer, owner and operator. Seeking to redefine the institutional PRS sector in the UK, PlaceFirst develops modern, high-quality, affordable homes, designed specifically from the ground up for the private rental market.
About the transaction:
Akur Capital ran an extensive process to identify and deliver the most appropriate capital to partner with the PlaceFirst management team. As an emerging asset class within UK real estate, institutional PRS is still very much in its development phase in the UK – there is currently no clear accepted market practice to delivery – but the need for high quality PRS in the UK is overwhelming.
Akur is pleased that ESO Capital, a European special situations investor with real estate interests, has committed to partner with PlaceFirst for the development and delivery of its PRS portfolio.
David Smith-Milne, CEO of PlaceFirst commented: “We are grateful to the Akur team for their work in the delivery of ESO as our new funding partner and for their support and advice over an extended period of time. We were attracted to the Akur team in part because of their success in structuring and financing new and highly focused alternative real estate asset classes, within both private and UK listed REIT structures. We also had a shared vision for the potential of the PRS space in the UK from the very outset. From the early stages of the project Akur’s understanding of the issues of this emerging sector has been critical in securing a successful funding outcome for PlaceFirst. We look forward to continuing to work with Akur as PlaceFirst develops a new standard for the delivery of PRS in the UK”
+44 207 493 3631
