Jermyn Investment Properties has received an agreed all-share £100m offer from Real Estate Opportunities (REO), a new closed-ended investment company based in Jersey set up to invest in UK and Irish property and European high-yield securities.
REO, which is backed by Irish developer Treasury Holdings and the Jermyn management, said in a statement that the offer of 596 REO ordinary shares for every 100 Jermyn shares, values Jermyn at approximately £100.8m and each Jermyn ordinary share at 596 pence. The offer represents a premium of 23.5% to the company’s capitalisation as at 29 March, the day before Jermyn announced it had received an offer approach.
REO has additionally agreed to acquire Treasury’s 50% holding in Castle Market Holdings for approximately IR£97.5m to be satisfied by the issue of ordinary shares and REO loan stock to Treasury. Jermyn owns the other half of CMH which will become a wholly owned subsidiary of REO, the company said.
REO said it will issue 7.5% pct convertible unsecured loan stock, zero dividend preference shares and ordinary shares which will each be listed on the London, Irish and Channel Island Stock Exchanges. Loans totalling £210m from Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland will be used to refinance Jermyn.
REO group’s initial consolidated assets are expected to be around £804m, the company said.
The Board of REO has 13 non-executive directors, including Chris Fishwick of Aberdeen, and Richard Barrett and John Ronan from Treasury Holdings. The chairman is Ray Horney who is the chairman of Jermyn.
EGi News 04/05/01
