In QuotedData’s morning briefing 27 June 2025
- The European Smaller Companies Trust (ESCT) has confirmed the completion of its tender offer, repurchasing 50,710,953 ordinary shares under the cash exit option at a price of 213.80p per share. All repurchased shares will be held in treasury. Following the transaction, the company’s issued share capital now comprises 279.2m shares, of which 51.6m are held in treasury. This leaves a total of 227.6m voting shares in issue. Settlement for uncertificated shares is expected to be made via CREST on 4 July 2025, with cheques for certificated holdings also due to be dispatched on the same day.
- Bellevue Healthcare Trust (BBH) has published a circular convening a general meeting on 15 July 2025, where it will seek shareholder approval to renew its authority to repurchase shares in support of its zero discount policy. The policy, introduced on 23 April 2025, aims to keep the company’s share price trading at or around NAV in normal market conditions. Since then, BBH has repurchased over 57.1m shares, with the shares trading at an average discount of just 1.3% to NAV over that period. The board notes that the authority granted at the 13 June 2025 meeting may soon be exhausted and is therefore seeking further approval to ensure the policy can continue uninterrupted. The general meeting will take place at 9am on 15 July 2025 at 24th Floor, The Shard, London.
- Life Science REIT (LABS) has announced that its Rolling Stock Yard property in London’s Knowledge Quarter is now fully let, following the signing of a new lease with Wayve Technologies. The AI-driven autonomous vehicle company has taken the seventh and eighth floors – totalling 10,500 sq ft – at a rent of £84.50 per sq ft. The letting comes just three months after the previous tenant, Xero Limited, vacated the space. Wayve has agreed to a lease of just over five years, with a tenant break option in November 2028. The 53,900 sq ft asset, acquired by LABS in 2021, sits in a prime location near St Pancras. Its quick re-letting is being cited by the investment adviser as a sign of strong demand for quality, mid-sized space in London’s life sciences and tech clusters. Wayve recently completed a $1bn Series C funding round backed by SoftBank, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Uber.
- Social Housing REIT (SOHO) has had its investment grade credit rating reaffirmed by Fitch Ratings. The company retains a long-term issuer default rating (IDR) of ‘A-’ and a senior secured rating of ‘A’ on its existing loan notes. The outlook remains negative, reflecting two outstanding tenant-related issues. However, Fitch notes this could be revised to stable once these matters are resolved. In its commentary, Fitch says “While the arrears have not undermined Social Housing REIT’s credit metrics, Fitch has tightened the rating’s debt capacity to reflect the greater RP credit risk this portfolio has suffered. Net debt/EBITDA is forecast to improve to under 8x by 2026 (2024: 8.7x), below our rating downgrade threshold of 8x. There is progress in transferring affected leases and we expect their rent collection to improve. We may revise the Outlook to Stable on lease transfer completion and if the contracted rents are maintained at current levels.” Fitch first rated SOHO in August 2021, assigning it the same investment grade rating. SOHO’s board comments that the reaffirmation underscores the underlying resilience of the portfolio despite near-term operational challenges.
We also have:
Stories you may have missed from yesterday:
