Irish listed property group Cairn Homes could raise up to €50 million this week to help fund bids for a number of prime development sites in Dublin, including land being sold by broadcaster RTÉ at its Donnybrook complex.
Cairn has announced plans to place up to 33.7 million new ordinary shares in the company with institutional investors. This would represent up to 4.9 per cent of its existing share base.
The company’s shares closed in London on Monday at €1.58.
In a stock-market announcement, Cairn said it was “considering a number of site purchases” to enhance its existing land bank. It currently has a portfolio of land that could deliver about 12,100 homes, with about 60 per cent of them aimed at first-time buyers.
Cairn is believed to lining up bids for a number of prime sites, including RTÉ’s land at Montrose. In March, the State broadcaster announced plans to sell 8.64 acres of land with Savills guiding €75 million for the site.
Credit facilities
To further boost its war chest for purchases, Cairn is also expected to enhance senior credit facilities with its bankers, and is also reported to be selling some of its smaller residential sites as a job lot for about €30 million.
Cairn also gave an update on current trading after European markets closed. The company achieved net revenues of €23.5 million from January 1st to May 12th and expects to achieve its sales target for 2017 of between 375 and 400 new units.
It will undertake an “off-plan” launch of the first phase of its 1,095-unit Shackleton Park development in Lucan, Co Dublin, later this week. And it intends to release an additional 40 units at its upmarket Marianella apartment development in Rathgar this month, to bring the total number of sale-agreed units there to more than 100.
The bookbuild for the share placing is expected to close on Tuesday with trading in the new stock to commence on Thursday. Goodbody and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are acting as bookrunners with Davy operating as the lead manager.
