Landsec has tabled a 149p per share offer for U+I, valuing the business at £190m.
The offer, which is being recommended by the U+I board, is at a 73% premium to U+I’s closing share price of 86p on 29 October. The offer is being made through a new specialist vehicle set up by Landsec called Landsec Development.
Landsec said the acquisition would accelerate the strategy it set out in October 2020 by providing an “attractive pipeline of mixed-use urban development opportunities”.
Landsec has tabled a 149p per share offer for U+I, valuing the business at £190m.
The offer, which is being recommended by the U+I board, is at a 73% premium to U+I’s closing share price of 86p on 29 October. The offer is being made through a new specialist vehicle set up by Landsec called Landsec Development.
Landsec said the acquisition would accelerate the strategy it set out in October 2020 by providing an “attractive pipeline of mixed-use urban development opportunities”.
U+I’s portfolio includes the 24-acre Mayfield project in Manchester, 1,500-home Morden Wharf scheme on the Greenwich Peninsula and 200,000 sq ft Landmark Court office development in Southwark.
For U+I the acquisition comes at a time when the business has been undertaking its own strategic review to “reset, prove, grow”. As part of the review, led by chief executive Richard Upton, the business reorganised itself into three segments: core regeneration, non-core development and trading assets and investment assets.
Landsec chief executive Mark Allan said: “Developing truly world-class mixed-use communities that inspire and create opportunity is more important than ever. The combination of Landsec and U+I is compelling and will help us accelerate our strategy, both by introducing exciting new urban development opportunities and by further strengthening Landsec’s front-end development capabilities and placemaking skills.
“Landsec has tremendous potential and this transaction is an example of our ability to capitalise on our strengths and create future value for all of our stakeholders – investors, employees, communities and partners alike.”
Upton added: “This acquisition represents a compelling opportunity to bring together two companies with strong and clear complementary value systems. U+I’s core portfolio of large, mixed-use regeneration schemes can now achieve its full potential with the capital, experience and market positioning that Landsec can provide. U+I’s purpose to effect valuable social and economic changes through authentic, inclusive regeneration is an important proposition for Landsec and the wider industry.
“This acquisition demonstrates confidence in our highly skilled and valuable team and for our many joint venture partners. Our strategy to refocus on what we do best has proved to be highly effective in capturing value for our existing shareholders and providing Landsec with an opportunity to unlock future value from our regeneration pipeline. We look forward to a hugely productive and exciting new future with Landsec.”
Talks first began in September.
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Image: Morden Wharf from U+I
