Home REIT has received a tender offer from Southey Capital Ltd for its shares at 4p each, valuing the company at around £32m.
Southey said that the offer provides shareholders with an opportunity to realise liquidity before a full de-listing.
The board of Home REIT said that it was not contacted by Southey ahead of the announcement and cannot comment on its validity.
It added: “The board also notes that Southey wishes to avoid a mandatory offer under the Takeover Code and therefore aims to restrict acceptances to any legal and regulatory limit that may impose a requirement to make a mandatory offer.”
Home REIT is currently in a managed wind down strategy, with a view to returning capital to shareholders once it has completed the sale of the remaining property portfolio. Last week, the company repaid all its debt and was marketing its portfolio hoping to achieve £175m.
The ability of the company to make distributions to shareholders is likely to be constrained whilst it faces potential shareholder litigation and an FCA investigation, however.
The company said that it intends to publish historical accounts for the year ended 31 August 2023 by the end of 2024, with the results for the year ended 31 August 2024 following in the first quarter of 2025, which would restore trading in its shares.
The results would also provide shareholders with an updated property valuation and net asset value per share.
[QD comment: We’re not sure that a tender offer at 4p would be appealing to shareholders especially given that we do not have up-to-date financials available to make a judgement on the value of the company. There may be some that will want to put an end to a sorry affair – given the uncertainty around the price it can achieve from its portfolio of assets, the cost of litigation and how long it will take for money to be returned to shareholders – and that is what Southey appears to be hoping for.]
