Sirius Real Estate (SRE), is to become the first Germany based property company to secure a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and will also be the first company to use a recently introduced fast track process. Trading in Johannesburg is expected to start on 5 December.
The company is also raising €40m (£32m) through a private placement of 105m shares for new and existing shareholders in London and Johannesburg at 38¢ per share. Together with a new €36m facility provided by its existing bankers, the proceeds will be used to fund the acquisition of five new business parks in Germany. Three of these are on the outskirts of Berlin; another in adjacent to an existing Sirius site in Bonn, and the fifth is in Aachen, close to the Belgian and Dutch borders.
The acquisition portfolio has an overall net initial yield of 8.1 per cent, and Sirius plans to carry out some refurbishment to accommodate its premium 'Smartspace' brand and reduce the current 17 per cent of the portfolio that is vacant. Current recurring rental income is €6.8m. After the share placing net asset value dilution is expected to be a nominal 1.5 per cent after factoring in a valuation uplift in the acquisition portfolio by real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield, which values the acquisitions 14 per cent above the purchase price.
Analysts at Peel Hunt have revised their forecast from 47¢ to 48¢ for year-end book value.
