MAS Real Estate: Private placement raises R2.7bn

MAS Real Estate, which has its primary listing on the Euro MTF market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the JSE’s AltX board, has raised R2.7 billion through a private placement, which was oversubscribed and closed on Tuesday. In total 174 million new shares will be issued at R15.75 a share in South Africa and e1.05346 in Europe. MAS initially offered 96.7 million shares with the intention of raising R1.5bn but decided to increase the offer following positive feedback from potential investors. MAS, which has its head office on the Isle of Man and includes Attacq, Mertech and Sanlam among its major shareholders, owns a portfolio of commercial and industrial properties in the UK, Switzerland and Germany. Lukas Nakos, the chief executive, said the purpose of the private placement was to increase the liquidity of the company’s shares when it moved to the JSE’s main board in the next few months and to grow its portfolio, particularly in Europe. “Properties in certain market sectors in Germany in particular offer excellent buying opportunities.” The capital raised will be used to finance part of a R2.8bn development in Edinburgh, which includes three hotels, two of which are being built for Whitbread, the UK’s largest hotel group. Construction is to start within the year. The shares were untraded at R21 on AltX yesterday. – Roy Cokayne