Green Reit shareholders approve sale of Irish property group for €1.34bn

Virtually all shareholders back resolutions to pave way for UK company Henderson Park to buy the business for €1.9135 a share

Green Reit co-founders Stephen Vernon and Pat Gunne at the listing of the plc on the Irish Stock Exchange in 2013. Photograph: Eric Luke
Green Reit co-founders Stephen Vernon and Pat Gunne at the listing of the plc on the Irish Stock Exchange in 2013. Photograph: Eric Luke

Irish property group Green Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) is likely to seek High Court approval for a €1.34 billion sale next month after shareholders overwhelmingly backed the deal on Monday.

Virtually all shareholders backed a series of resolutions that will pave the way for British property company Henderson Park to buy the company for €1.34 billion or €1.9135 a share.

Green will also have to seek High Court approval for the formal scheme to sell the real estate group to Henderson Park.

In a statement issued after shareholders voted on Monday, Green Reit said it would seek the court’s approval in November, and pledged to announce the date of the hearing once it had been fixed.

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More than 99 per cent of shareholders voted in favour of the key resolutions needed to approve the €1.34 billion deal at meetings in Dublin's Merrion Hotel on Monday.

Shareholders had to vote on the proposals at a scheme meeting and an extraordinary general meeting. Green issued a statement afterwards confirming that investors had voted for all of the resolutions.

Green was the Reit launched in the Republic when it floated on the Irish Stock Exchange in July 2013. The company's properties include offices such as One Molesworth Street and George's Quay Plaza in central Dublin, Central Park in Leopardstown on the capital's southside, and One Albert Quay in Cork.

Green also owns the Horizon Logistics Park at Dublin Airport, and the Arena Centre in Tallaght.

Henderson Park emerged as the front runner to buy Green in August. Gary Kennedy, Green's chairman, said that Henderson's offer was an "attractive outcome" for shareholders as it priced the shares at a premium to their value before the Irish company announced its intention to sell.

Green put itself up for sale in April, claiming that its stock was trading at a discount to the underlying net value of its properties.

The total value of Green Reit’s properties was €1.3 billion at the end of June, a 4 per cent increase on the same date in 2018.

Barry O'Halloran

Barry O'Halloran

Barry O’Halloran covers energy, construction, insolvency, and gaming and betting, among other areas