Shaftesbury will raise £150m through a 2-for-3 fully underwritten rights issue to expand its property portfolio in the West End of London on Berwick Street in Soho.
It has already bought 18 properties in the area for £27.7m.
It will link with Westminster council to improve the condition of the area and encourage high-quality businesses to set up shop in a project the company said would be similar to its transformation of Carnaby Street.
The issue is priced at 175p a share, representing a 39% discount to the theoretical ex-rights price and a 53% discount to Tuesday’s closing price.
The owner of property around Chinatown, Covent Garden and Soho reported a full-year pretax loss of £159.7m, compared with a loss of £93.6m last time, partly reflecting an 18.5% adjusted NAV fall to 393p in the past 12 months.
The Financial Times says the Shaftesbury capital raising will contribute to more than £1bn that will be raised in the property sector in the next few weeks as companies seek to gain bargains in preparation for the bottom of the market whenever that might come.
The newspaper says a lack of available properties might be one hindrance to a sector recovery.
Shaftesbury shares rose 26.75p to 400p.
21/05/09 Financial Times 20
Times 50, 54
Daily Telegraph B2
Independent 44
