Uni-invest joins growing list of cancelled property IPOs

Amsterdam-based Uni-invest has become the latest real estate casualty of investor apathy this month by cancelling its IPO hours before it was to list on Euronext.

Earlier in June, Spanish property developer Grupo Tremon postponed its planned IPO until September, citing a 'crisis of confidence' in the Spanish property market. The company said it needed more time to explain its plans to investors.

Last week, German retail property firm Boetzelen called off a planned share issue, again citing market conditions. The company had already drastically lowered the price range of its share offering. Spanish developer Reyal Urbis and the UK's Vector Hospitality have also been forced to postpone their IPOs in recent weeks.

Another Spanish developer Realia raised EUR 783 mln in an initial public offering that missed the company's goal of EUR 7.9 to EUR 9.7 per share because of the slowing property market in the country.

In a statement on Tuesday morning, Uni-invest said it had been 'very encouraged by institutional investors' positive reaction' to the company and its strategy. But using what is fast becoming a familiar phrase, the company cited 'adverse market conditions' for the last-minute abandonment of its much-heralded return to the Amsterdam exchange. The plan was to raise up to EUR 373 mln in the offering.

'The board and management team will continue to focus on delivering on Uni-invest's unique active asset and property management strategy in the Dutch commercial property market,' ceo Jack Bakker said.

Chief financial officer Pieter Roozenboom said the deterioration in the market conditions had come as a surprise. The first sign of trouble was the interest rate increase by the European Central Bank. He told Reuters that Uni-invest had not ruled out raising money with existing shareholders or banks, or seeking a listing in future.

Uni-invest is a closed-end real estate investment company focused on the ownership and management of commercial properties, principally offices, in the Netherlands. As of 31 March 2007, the company owned 300 properties with lettable floor space of 1.4 million m² and valued at EUR 1.5 bn. The largest concentration of properties is in and around the Randstad conurbation.

The company was founded in 1924 and was listed in Amsterdam until 2003, a year after it was acquired by a consortium led by Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners.