Quintain Estates joins rivals in property cash call frenzy
PROPERTY developer Quintain Estates yesterday unveiled a fully underwritten £191.2m cash call to reduce its debt pile and fund construction projects.
Quintain said the three-for-one rights issue of 390m shares would be priced at 49p – a 72 per cent discount to Wednesday’s closing price. The group said the net proceeds would be £183.5m after fees and costs.
JP Morgan, HSBC and Barclays Capital are acting as underwriters, with JP Morgan Cazenove and Lazard acting as joint financial advisers.
For the six months to 30 September, Quintain posted a pre-tax profit of £9.5m, compared with a loss of £51.6m in the same period a year earlier.
The property developer has been working to meet its debt covenants and refinance its debt throughout 2009 with £49m from refinancing and initial equity in early October, the extension of its banking facility in May and the sale of the firm that controls the 999-year lease on the O2 center to Trinity College Cambridge.
Chairman William Rucker said: “The rights issue will enhance the group’s financial position and enable us to unlock substantial value from our existing portfolio.”