Glenveagh to raise €200m for further land purchases
Housebuilding firm Glenveagh Properties intends to raise another €200m in equity and use the proceeds to fund further site acquisitions.
The company, which raised more than €550m from its IPO last year, is seeking shareholder approval to raise around €205m more, in net funds, through a firm placing and open offer.
Glenveagh, which has spent €400m since floating in October, said the new money would be used to buy new land and develop new and existing sites in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway. The company is planning to build 1,000 apartments on a 4.6 hectare site in Cork’s docklands.
The available land it has now — ahead of the purchase of further acreage — has the capacity for 10,000 houses, 37% of which is deemed shovel-ready.
Glenveagh said it has identified “a number” of potential sites that are “attractive and actionable land acquisition opportunities”, and expects them to become available for sale over the next 12 months at a total estimated cost of around €803m.
“We have a large and robust pipeline of highly accretive land acquisition opportunities which we will action on completion of this fundraising,” said Glenveagh’s chief executive Justin Bickle.
Speaking after the company’s AGM last month, Mr Bickle said market conditions for housebuilders are currently “very favourable” and that Glenveagh plans to have 1,500 houses under construction by the end of this year.
Separate to the capital raise announcement, Glenveagh said an entity controlled by private equity firm Oaktree Capital intends to sell an 8.2% stake in the business. Glenveagh’s shares rose by 1.64%.
