French listed property group Altarea Cogedim has announced the launch of a €210 mln capital increase with preferential subscription rights (PRSs) for shareholders.
The capital hike is aimed at ‘strengthening the group’s equity in order to allow it to finance its growth and investment strategy, while maintaining a solid financial structure’, the company said in a statement.
The main shareholders and management will subscribe for most of their pro rata share of the transaction, effectively guaranteeing over 68% of the placing.
A total of 1.5 million new shares will be issued at a subscription price of €140 per share. The price represents a 20.45% discount on Altarea Cogedim’s stock price of €176 at closing on 18 May 2016.
As part of the operation, Alain Taravella, CEO and major shareholder with a 44.8% stake, as well as shareholder Predica with a 27.1% interest said intend to sell on the market a limited portion of their PSRs in order to increase the free float of the shares. Dutch pension fund ABP will subscribe to all of its PRSs.
The subscription period for the new shares will run from 23 May 2016 until close of trading on 3 June 2016.
This transaction brings the total amount of equity raised by Altarea since the beginning of 2016 to €369 mln.
The company said it expects to see strong FFO growth per share of 15 to 20% this year. Beyond 2016, Altarea Cogedim aims to grow its FFO (Group share) by 5% to 10% per year on average, largely thanks to its development pipeline, which is estimated at €600 mln.
