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Share Name | Share Symbol | Market | Type | Share ISIN | Share Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Molecular Energies Plc | LSE:MEN | London | Ordinary Share | GB00BMT80K89 | ORD 1P |
Price Change | % Change | Share Price | Bid Price | Offer Price | High Price | Low Price | Open Price | Shares Traded | Last Trade | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.00 | 0.00% | 7.00 | 5.00 | 10.00 | 0.00 | 01:00:00 |
Industry Sector | Turnover | Profit | EPS - Basic | PE Ratio | Market Cap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oil And Gas Field Expl Svcs | 33.23M | -10.5M | -1.0128 | -0.07 | 725.58k |
RNS Number:3298N Ashtenne Holdings PLC 09 July 2003 9 July 2003 Acquisition of Mentmore plc's Serviced Business Space division and disposal of certain of the acquired properties to the Ashtenne Industrial Fund Ashtenne Holdings plc today announces it has entered into a conditional agreement with Mentmore plc to acquire its Serviced Business Space Division, which comprises Birkby Limited and In Shops Limited for a cash consideration equal to #189.0 million less a sum of #6.5 million to take account of estimated debt, tenant deposits and certain other items. On completion of the acquisition of Birkby and In Shops, Ashtenne has contracted to sell certain of the Birkby properties for #90.6 million to the Ashtenne Industrial Fund, in which Ashtenne currently has a 22 % interest, and for which it is asset manager. Highlights * Purchase of Birkby and In Shops from Mentmore for #182.5 million * Sale of #90.6 million of the Birkby properties to the Ashtenne Industrial Fund through which Ashtenne will benefit from asset management fees, performance fees and its 22% interest * Opportunity for Ashtenne and AIF to purchase a large, high yielding, industrial and business property portfolio * Ashtenne believes it can increase the occupancy level of Birkby and In Shops which is currently 81.7% and 72.4% James Hambro, Chairman of Ashtenne, commented: "We are pleased to have purchased this large portfolio which contains properties suitable for both Ashtenne and the Ashtenne Industrial Fund. The properties have plenty of growth potential and Ashtenne intends to apply its asset management skills to increase the occupancy and thereby increase the value of these properties." Your attention is drawn to the full text of the announcement as detailed below. Enquiries Ashtenne Holdings plc Morgan Jones Joint Chief Executive 020 7930 9425 Ian Watson Joint Chief Executive Cazenove & Co. Ltd Richard Cotton 020 7588 2828 Tavistock Communications Jeremy Carey 020 7600 2288 Marylene Guernier Ashtenne will make a presentation to analysts at 10.30am on Wednesday 9 July 2003 at the offices of Tavistock Communications, 17th Floor, One Angel Court, London EC2R 7HX. Cazenove & Co. Ltd is acting exclusively for Ashtenne and no one else in connection with the acquisition and disposal and will not be responsible to anyone other than Ashtenne for providing the protections afforded to customers of Cazenove & Co. Ltd or for providing advice in connection with the acquisition or the disposal. Introduction Ashtenne Holdings plc ("Ashtenne") announces today that a wholly owned subsidiary has entered into a conditional agreement with Mentmore plc ("Mentmore ") to acquire its Serviced Business Space Division ("SBS"), which comprises Birkby Limited ("Birkby") and In Shops Limited ("In Shops"), for a cash consideration equal to #189.0 million less a sum of #6.5 million to take account of estimated debt, tenant deposits and certain other items. On completion Ashtenne has agreed to procure the repayment to Mentmore of the estimated debt of #1.7 million owed by SBS (after taking account of cash in Birkby and In Shops). On completion of the acquisition of Birkby and In Shops, Ashtenne has contracted to sell certain of the Birkby properties for #90.6 million to the Ashtenne Industrial Fund Limited Partnership ("AIF"), in which Ashtenne currently has a 22% interest, and for which it is asset manager. Description of Birkby and In Shops Birkby owns and operates the IMEX and Argo businesses' properties, which are freehold or long leasehold properties that are predominantly let to SME customers for industrial, workshop and office use. The Birkby properties comprises 167 properties with a valuation of approximately #197.1 million and current net annual rent receivable of approximately #20.2 million as at the date of this announcement. The current occupancy level is 81.7%. In Shops owns and operates 58 properties of which 7 are freehold and the remainder are leasehold. These properties are let to approximately 1,300 independent traders for use as indoor markets. This portfolio has a valuation of approximately #13.8 million and current net annual rent receivable of approximately #5.0 million as at the date of this announcement. The current occupancy level is 72.4%. The Birkby and In Shops properties have been individually valued by King Sturge. As part of acquiring Birkby and In Shops, Ashtenne will be taking on the administrative overheads associated with these businesses. The administrative overheads totalled #5.7 million for the year ended 30 April 2003 (2002: #4.8million, 2001: #4.2million). Background to the acquisition and the disposal Ashtenne's objective is to achieve consistently high returns for its shareholders by identifying properties which present value opportunities and managing them vigorously to realise the value identified. Ashtenne's business is divided into two complementary areas. The first is the fund management and coinvestment business consisting of two funds, the Ashtenne Industrial Fund, a limited partnership between Ashtenne, Morley Fund Management, and a number of institutional investors which invests in high yielding industrial property in the UK. The other fund is Ashtenne's Trade Park Fund, a limited partnership which is focussed on assembling a portfolio of trade retail properties, an emerging and specialist sub-sector of industrial properties. Ashtenne's remaining capital is invested directly in properties, typically mixed use, complex acquisitions and opportunistic property investments. Acquisitions include the Ascot PLC portfolio, Sittingbourne Research Centre , the Marconi portfolio and the Rexel portfolio. Ashtenne has a network of highly skilled property executives located throughout the UK. This depth of property skill and knowledge is focused on acquiring property assets, adding value through marketing, letting, planning or development and reselling the properties to crystallise returns. Due to active disposals by the direct side of the Ashtenne business and successful fund raisings in AIF, Ashtenne and AIF have financial resources available for acquisitions. Reasons for and benefits of the acquisition and the disposal Ashtenne is familiar with the Birkby business which trades under the name of IMEX. In Ashtenne's view, IMEX is an industrial property business with assets compatible with Ashtenne's intensive management approach. Ashtenne believes that the acquisition of Birkby provides an opportunity for Ashtenne and AIF to purchase a large, high yielding, predominantly well maintained, industrial and business property portfolio. During the last two years, Mentmore has embarked upon a programme of substantial capital investment in its properties, which has improved the quality of its portfolio and which the Directors believe provides an opportunity to improve occupancy levels. Mentmore has run IMEX as an earnings driven business, which has meant limited selling of properties. On completion of the acquisition from Mentmore, Ashtenne has contracted to sell 69 of the Birkby industrial properties to AIF. Ashtenne, which is the asset manager to AIF, will benefit from the disposal through increased management fees from AIF and believes that the quality of the disposal properties will improve the likelihood of Ashtenne achieving higher performance fees. Ashtenne will also benefit through its 22% interest in AIF. The remaining IMEX properties will be managed by Ashtenne so as to achieve cost savings and increase their value and will then be sold over a period of years as they mature as investments. The In Shops business is primarily an indoor markets business. In Shops leases large floorplate retail space in secondary locations and licenses small parts of this space to local traders. Ashtenne believes that there is an opportunity to improve the In Shops occupancy level in the short term which has suffered due to radical refurbishment over the last two years. Terms of the acquisition and the disposal Ashtenne has agreed to acquire from Mentmore its SBS division for an initial cash consideration of #180.7 million and additional consideration estimated at #1.8 million. Ashtenne has also agreed to procure the repayment to Mentmore of #1.7 million of debt owed by SBS (after taking account of cash in Birkby and In Shops). The Birkby properties and the In Shop properties are valued at #197.1 million and #13.8 million respectively. In arriving at the initial consideration for the SBS division Ashtenne has allowed #30.2 million to take account of tax and other net liabilities associated with Birkby and In Shops at completion, transaction costs and Ashtenne's estimate of the contingent capital gains tax associated with the properties. The additional consideration relates to Brunswick Business Park, Sefton Street, Liverpool, a property currently owned by Birkby ("Brunswick Property") which Ashtenne will acquire from Mentmore. The Brunswick Property is not included in the above reference to the Birkby properties which have been valued at #197.1 million. The Brunswick Property is currently under offer to a third party. The additional consideration that Ashtenne will pay to Mentmore will equal the net proceeds received by Ashtenne on completion of the sale of this property. Mentmore has advised Ashtenne that the current book value of this property is #1.8 million and this figure has been used in estimating the consideration. The acquisition is conditional on approval by Mentmore shareholders as well as the approval of Ashtenne's shareholders. In addition, on completion of the acquisition, Ashtenne has contracted to sell #86.8 million of the Birkby properties, as valued by King Sturge, to AIF for a consideration of #90.6 million. The acquisition is not conditional on the disposal taking place. Financial effect of the acquisition and disposal The net assets of Birkby and In Shops at completion, allowing for transaction costs, are expected to be #182.4 million. The initial cash consideration of #180.7 million and the repayment of #1.7 million of SBS indebtedness, will be satisfied by existing cash and bank resources and a new bank facility of #145 million to be provided by Royal Bank of Scotland. The additional consideration will be satisfied from the net proceeds Ashtenne receives from the sale of the Brunswick Property as described above. As explained above, Ashtenne will dispose of certain of the Birkby properties to AIF for a cash consideration of #90.6 million. These properties have current net annual rent receivable of approximately #8.2 million as at the date of this announcement. The majority of the proceeds from the disposal will be used immediately to repay part of the Royal Bank of Scotland bank facility. Extraordinary General Meeting and Circular In view of the size of both the acquisition and disposal, shareholder approval is required. A circular containing further details and convening the extraordinary general meeting to be held on 31 July 2003, is expected to be sent to Ashtenne shareholders shortly. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END ACQEAAXPEADDEAE
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