Hansteen to raise EUR 238m through open offer

AIM-listed industrial property firm Hansteen plans to raise gross proceeds of £200.8 mln (EUR 238 mln) by way of a Placing and Open Offer at a price of 75p per new ordinary share to allow it to take advantage of exceptional opportunities to buy industrial properties in the UK.

The offer has been fully underwritten by KBC Peel Hunt.

The issue price of 75p represents a discount of 7p or 8.5% to the closing mid-market price of 82p per ordinary share on the London Stock Exchange on 22 June 2009.

Morgan Jones, joint chief executive of Hansteen said: 'The UK property market is in a state of considerable distress whereby we can acquire industrial property at double digit yields. This means there is an outstanding opportunity for us to create further value for Hansteen's shareholders by re-entering the UK property market at this time.'

In an interview with PropertyEU, Morgan Jones and joint CEO Ian Watson said the fund raising had almost universal support from Hansteen's major shareholders. The company, they said, now had the firepower to take advantage of the market conditions.

Watson said the issues facing landlords of industrial property were widespread, with 2-3 years of tough times ahead for occupiers, meaning that most owners could be defined as potential distressed sellers. Jones said Hansteen would not be tied to any region in the UK and would make acquisitions on an opportunistic basis after careful consideration of the pros and cons of each property.

He noted, however, that the multi-let industrial segment was not as volatile as other sectors.

The full interview with Jones and Watson will be published shortly.