Invista in £60m capital raising
Invista, a UK- and Luxembourg-listed trust that owns a €540m (£483m, $808m) European property portfolio, is to raise close to £60m to help pay down a large tranche of debt and extend facilities on more attractive terms.
The capital raising is the first of its type in the continental European investment-trust sector since the credit crunch hit.
It is seen as demonstrating the growing confidence in the recovery of the property sector, given the likelihood that the company would not have been able to renegotiate its facilities six months ago, or raise as much new equity from its investors even at such a discounted level.
The Invista trust, which owns property across France, Germany, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands, was facing a potential breach of loan-to-values, although the recovery in the market may have moved its debt position firmly into safety again.
The company will use €40m of the net proceeds to reduce debt under a Bank of Scotland facility.
The rest of the new money raised will be used as working capital, either to reduce debt further or for investment.
JPMorgan Cazenove and Liberum are joint book runners.
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