Sirius Real Estate Limited has agreed a capital raise of £137mln to fund the £245mln acquisition of BizSpace Group from Värde Partners.
BizSpace is a provider of regional flexible workspace, offering light industrial, workshop, studio and out of town office units to a wide range of businesses across the UK.
READ: Sirius Real Estate buys office and business parks in Germany for €45mln
Sirius said that it’s a “highly attractive and strategically important opportunity that allows Sirius to enter, at scale, an under-served wider UK market with a one-step acquisition of an established platform”.
It also represents an opportunity to replicate its business model implemented in Germany in another European country.
The transaction will be funded by a combination of new and existing debt alongside the proceeds of the new fundraise.
The landlord is planning to place new shares to institutional investors, a non-pre-emptive placing of new shares to selected qualified investors in South Africa as well as an offer to UK retail investors on PrimaryBid.
The price was later announced at 130p at the close of a bookbuild process, representing roughly 10% of the total capital.
In a separate announcement, Sirius posted its half-year results for the six months ended 30 September.
Profit before tax climbed 26% to €78mln, helped by a 13.4% growth in funds from operations to €33mln and a 2.5% increase in like-for-like annualised rent roll to €98mln.
The dividend was hiked 12.1% to 2.04 cents per share.
The owner and operator of branded business and industrial parks said that the German economy is forecast to grow 4% next year, while a high percentage of the population has now been vaccinated.
Like-for-like occupancy remained broadly flat at 86%, while total occupancy has reduced to 85% from 87% last year due to the acquisition of vacant space during the period.