Africa-Press – South-Africa. Shares of JSE-listed Industrials Reit, which focuses on multi-let industrial assets in the UK, surged more a third on Monday, after it announced about a buyout proposal US private equity giant Blackstone Inc that values its shares at £500 million (R11 billion).
Under the terms of the offer, the shareholders would receive 168p per ordinary share in cash, a 42.4% increase in the company’s share as of Friday. The group said on Monday that when including debt the total equity value of the deal is about £700 million.
In morning trade Industrial’s shares on the JSE had rocketed 36.54% to R35.50.
Industrials, valued at about R10.5 billion on the JSE, has a primary listing in London, and has spent the past few years transitioning towards a property group focused upon UK multi-let assets, or properties with space for multiple small and medium-sized tenants.
At of its 2022 year, its property portfolio was valued at £685.8 million, and includes 104 multi-let industrial estates providing a total of just over 7 600 000 square feet (about 706 000 square metres) of lettable space in England, Scotland and Wales. Apart from its residual joint venture holding in four German care homes, the portfolio has been completely transformed, the company said.
New York-based Blackstone is one of the world’s largest private equity groups, with $975 billion (about R17.4 trillion) in assets under management as of the end of December, with more than 12 000 real estate assets and 250 portfolio companies.
Industrials said on Monday it indicated to Blackstone that it intends to recommend the financial terms to shareholders, if a firm offer is made. This is still subject to a number of customary pre-conditions, including completion of confirmatory due diligence, which “Blackstone and Industrial are working closely together to complete as soon as is practicable.”
Update: This article has been updated to reflect that the £500 million figure refers to the value of the deal in terms of the group’s shares.
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