UK build-to-rent housing investor PRS REIT has embarked on a strategic review of the business, with possible options being explored including a sale, the company said on Wednesday.
The board of the listed real estate investment trust said it was undertaking the review ‘to consider the future of the company and to explore all the various strategic options available to enhance value for shareholders which may include a potential sale of the company.’
PRS REIT has invested over £1 bn (€1.2 bn) in private rental homes across the UK, funded by initial public offerings and government support.
With a market valuation of nearly £500 mln (€594 mln) and a portfolio of over 5,400 homes, PRS REIT is considered the largest single-family build-to-rent portfolio in the UK. A further 180 homes were contracted at 30 June 2024, with the majority expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
The board said PRS REIT had ‘successfully established the largest build-to-rent single-family home portfolio in the UK, creating significant asset value returns for its shareholders’, and that ‘the company’s prospects remain positive against the backdrop of a structural shortage of quality family rental homes in the UK, a situation exacerbated by private landlords exiting the rental market’.
News of the review comes shortly after five shareholders demanded the removal of non-executive chair Stephen Smith and non-executive director Steffan Francis, and their replacement by two new directors ‘to review options to return value to shareholders’.
On Wednesday, the board said it had ‘received feedback from a number of shareholders regarding the options available to the company to maximise value for shareholders’.
‘Following such feedback, the board wishes to explore these options in a coordinated fashion, alongside engaging with a range of potentially interested parties.’
It said PRS REIT was not currently in discussions with a takeover party, nor had it received a takeover approach from a potential bidder.
