Canadian-backed Geneba in €206m rights issue

Amsterdam-based property company Geneba is to raise €206 mln of fresh capital in a rights issue aimed at expanding its portfolio and strengthening its financial position.

With the closing of the first part of offering, Geneba has nearly tripled its equity, the newly-launched Dutch firm said in a statement.

'The completion of this rights issue clearly marks the start of a new episode,' commented Wulf Meinel, CEO of Geneba. 'We have now significantly strengthened our financial position by reducing the loan-to- value ratio (LTV) from approximately 77% to 70% and improving the capital of the company available for new acquisitions.'

Geneba Properties was formed from the insolvent European firm Homburg Invest. The company is largely owned by Canada's second-largest private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group through its Catalyst RE Coöperatief arm.

The rights issue was offered to all existing shareholders at equal terms. Five new shares were issued for every two existing shares at a discount of 12% to the net asset value per share as per June 30, 2014. A first tranche of 31 million new ordinary shares has already been issued, bringing the total number of Geneba ordinary shares outstanding to nearly 61 million.

Through its participation in the offering, Catalyst has increased its stake in the company from 42% previously to 71% at present.

In a second offering, Geneba will issue a further 43 million shares with investor Catalyst Capital committing to take all or part of the shares. If all new ordinary shares are taken, Catalyst will increase its stake in the company to 83%.

'Thanks to the investments of Catalyst and all other participating shareholders, we have created a solid foundation and ample room for new investments safeguarding the interests of all our investors. We look forward to creating a well diversified portfolio with solid properties, generating stable returns for all our shareholders,' added Meinel.