New Europe Property Investments: Book build reaps R1.4bn for deals

NEW Europe Property Investments (Nepi) had raised R1.4 billion through an accelerated book build to partially fund its pipeline of future developments and extensions, as well as acquisitions, the company said on Monday. Nepi, which is listed on the JSE, the London Stock Exchange’s junior AIM exchange and the Bucharest Stock Exchange, opened the book on Monday morning to raise R1.14bn but the amount raised was increased because of strong demand. The new Nepi shares to be issued were priced at R95.50 each, a 0.65 percent discount to the 30-day volume-weighted average price and a 3.51 percent discount to Friday’s closing price. A total of 15 041 885 new Nepi shares are expected to be issued and listed on Monday, increasing the total issued share capital to 240 161 543 ordinary shares with voting rights. The JSE requires Nepi to issue a further statement setting out the pro forma financial effects of the book build because the number of shares to be issued is in excess of 5 percent of the number of shares in issue prior to the book build. Macquarie First South Capital acted as the sole bookrunner. The shares fell 2.3 percent on Monday and lost a further 27c to close at R96.38 on the JSE yesterday. – Roy Cokayne