Hansteen Holdings plc Proposed Return of £145M of Capital & Notice of GM (2188I)

TIDMHSTN

RNS Number : 2188I

Hansteen Holdings plc

20 March 2018

20 March 2018

Hansteen Holdings PLC

("Hansteen" or the "Company")

Proposed Return of GBP145 million of Capital

(Representing 35 Pence per Ordinary Share)

and

Notice of General Meeting

Hansteen (LSE: HSTN), the investor in UK industrial property, is today posting a circular to its shareholders containing full details of a proposed return of c. GBP145 million of capital and notice of a General Meeting convened for 11.00 a.m. on 11 April 2018.

Highlights

-- On 5 February 2018, the Company announced that it had agreed to dispose of the Industrial Multi Property Trust portfolio for GBP116 million to an entity owned by Warehouse REIT plc, with completion expected to occur at the end of March 2018.

-- On 13 March 2018, the Company announced that the Secretary of State for Transport had acquired Saltley Business Park, Birmingham from a subsidiary of the Company, by way of compulsory purchase. As part of the CPO process the Group has received an initial advance payment of GBP36.96 million with a mutual valuation process underway designed to establish the property's aggregate market value.

-- The Group's cash balance of GBP71.2 million at 31 December 2017 is therefore expected to rise significantly.

-- Owing to the current high level of demand for industrial property investments, opportunities to reinvest these substantial cash deposits in properties that fit the Hansteen business model are likely to be limited. As the cash deposits would earn virtually no interest and therefore materially dilute the returns from the business, the Board considers that returning capital to the shareholders by means of a Reduction and Return of Capital is in the best interests of all Shareholders.

-- The Company proposes to reduce its share premium account and cancel its capital redemption reserve by an aggregate amount of c. GBP145 million and pay such amount to the Shareholders as a Return of Capital.

-- The effect of the proposed Reduction and Return of Capital will be that for every fully paid Ordinary Share held at the Record Date, a Shareholder will receive 35 pence in cash.

-- The proposals are conditional upon the approval of Shareholders at a General Meeting of the Company to be held at 11.00 a.m. on Wednesday 11 April 2018 at 21 Tudor Street, London EC4Y 0DJ and approval of the Court.

Ian Watson and Morgan Jones, Joint Chief Executives of Hansteen, said: "While opportunities to acquire properties or portfolios from which we can generate value are likely to be limited, we continue to see good potential to drive further value growth both through increasing income from our remaining portfolio by improving occupancy and growing rental levels and capitalising on the demand for industrial assets from the investment market."

EXPECTED TIMETABLE OF EVENTS

 
 Event                                           Time/date 
 Publication of this document                20 March 2018 
 Latest time and date for receipt            11.00 a.m. on 
  of Forms of Proxy                           9 April 2018 
 General Meeting                             11.00 a.m. on 
                                             11 April 2018 
 Court Hearing                                  1 May 2018 
 Record Date for Return of Capital            6.00 p.m. on 
                                                2 May 2018 
 Ordinary Shares commence trading             8.00 a.m. on 
  ex-entitlement to Return of                   3 May 2018 
  Capital 
 Registration of Court Order                    3 May 2018 
  and Effective Date of Return 
  of Capital 
 Despatch of cheques to Shareholders          On or around 
  or Shareholders' CREST accounts              11 May 2018 
  credited (as appropriate) in 
  respect of Return of Capital 
  entitlements 
 
 

Copies of the Circular will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at: http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM. In addition, the documents will be available on the Hansteen website (www.hansteen.co.uk) and may also be obtained from the Company Secretary.

This summary should be read in conjunction with the full text of the Circular. Unless otherwise stated, terms used in this announcement have the same meanings as given to them in the Circular.

Enquiries:

 
 Hansteen Holdings PLC     Tel: +44 (0) 
  Ian Watson                20 7408 7000 
  Morgan Jones 
 Peel Hunt (Sole Broker)   Tel: +44 (0) 
  Capel Irwin               20 7418 8900 
  Edward Fox 
 Tavistock                   Tel: +44 (0) 
  Jeremy Carey               20 7920 3150 
  Kirsty Allan              07836 734 625 
                            07824 393 242 
 

Important notices

This announcement contains inside information.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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March 20, 2018 03:01 ET (07:01 GMT)