Tritax Big Box REIT has agreed to buy an 85% stake in Delancey and Barwood Development’s £370m logistics business, db Symmetry.
To fund the acquisition, Tritax is proposing a £250m placing and open offer, comprising 192,291,313 new ordinary shares at an issue price of 130p per new ordinary share.
Tritax Big Box entered advanced talks to buy the privately-owned logistics platform in November, as previously revealed by EG.
The consideration for the purchase will amount to around £202.4m in cash, in respect of 69.1% of the equity value of db Symmetry, and around £52.6m in consideration shares (17.9%) to be issued to Delancey’s DV4 Properties and db Symmetry’s senior management after the acquisition completes.
DBS HoldCo will also procure the repayment of approximately £67.7m of deep discounted bonds owed by db Symmetry to DV4 Properties and certain of its affiliates, which have been used to fund land acquisitions, construction, developments and associated costs in relation to the portfolio.
Db Symmetry’s senior management will retain the remaining 13% stake when the deal completes.
Db Symmetry has an enterprise value of £370m, subject to certain adjustments in respect of cash, debt, working capital, tax and other operational liabilities.
The portfolio includes both consented and strategic land, offering Tritax phased access to more than 2,500 acres, of which 248 acres, or 3.8m sq ft, has planning consent for logistics use.
The company said the board, proposed director and manager identified opportunities to deliver around 38.2m sq ft of big-box assets across logistics locations in the UK.
The deal is expected to complete on 19 February. Tritax said it believed that as a as a result of the scarcity of land at major logistics locations in the UK, the acquisition will provide a significant commercial and competitive advantage for the REIT.
Db Symmetry was founded in 1996.
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