Kennedy Wilson closes €1.1b share issue

Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate has raised £910 mln (€1.1 bn) from its initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.

The company said it has issued 12.5 million shares to affiliates of Kennedy Wilson Holdings, 3.5 million shares to Welford, a company controlled by funds of Värde Partners, and 75 million shares to selected cornerstone investors and institutional investors.

The shares were issued at a price of £10.00 each, giving the company a capitalisation of £910 mln. In addition, Deutsche Bank has been granted an over-allotment option of up to 9.1 million shares, representing up to 10% of the company's share capital. If the over-allotment option is exercised, the company will issue up to 9.1 million shares within a 30-day period.

The shares are expected to be admitted to the premium listing segment on the main market of the London Stock Exchange on 28 February 2014.

Commenting on the announcement, Charlotte Valeur, chairperson of Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate, said: 'We are delighted with the strong, positive response from a broad range of investors. The interest shown by institutional and cornerstone investors is a strong endorsement of both the investment proposition and investors' confidence in the experience, strengths and track record of Kennedy Wilson.'

Mary Ricks, president and CEO of KW Europe, added: 'The level of funds raised will allow Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate to take advantage of our pipeline and create a real estate portfolio of scale and quality.'

Earlier this month Kennedy Wilson confirmed plans to acquire 40 properties in the UK as the seed portfolio for the €910 mln IPO of its European real estate business. The office, industrial and retail properties comprise 241,000 m2 of space in two UK portfolios and are being acquired for £223 mln (€284 mln).

The listed company will invest primarily in real estate and real estate loans in Europe, initially in the UK, Ireland and Spain, followed by other European countries on an opportunistic basis.

Kennedy Wilson Europe was established in 2011. It has acquired assets directly from 11 financial institutions across the UK and Ireland in 14 transactions. At end-December 2013 it had £2.5 bn of assets under management in Europe. The company has 50 investment professionals across London, Dublin and Madrid, headed by Mary Ricks, with 26 years' experience in the real estate sector.

Its parent company, Kennedy Wilson, is a diversified international real estate investment and services firm, with £8.5 bn of real estate and real estate-related assets under management, totalling 6.4 million m2 in the US, Europe and Japan, as at end-September 2013.