Metlifecare raises $70 mln at 8.3 % discount in institutional placement

Metlifecare, the retirement village operator and developer, raised $70 million at an 8.3 percent discount in a placement to institutional investors after yesterday's bookbuild process was completed.

Some $22.6 million shares were sold at $3.10 apiece after the bookbuild, which set the price, having been halted at $3.38 before the sale. Metlifecare plans to raise a further $10 million in a share purchase plan to existing investors, and will use the funds raised to repay debt.

"The capital raising has generated strong support from our existing shareholders," managing director Alan Edwards said in a statement. "The capital raising was also successful in attracting a number of new offshore institutional investors and expanding our shareholder base through eligible investors of the retail brokers."

Metlifecare had $134 million of debt at April 30, of which $33 million was classified as development debt and $101 million as non-development. Following the placement, non-development debt reduces to $14 million, a further $17 million is listed at land-backed debt and development debt remains unchanged.

The company is aiming for a build rate of at least 200 new beds and units a year by 2015, it said.

The company had $198 million of debt post its 2012 merger with Vision Senior Living and Private Life Care Holdings. It subsequently reduced debt via the sale of two South Island assets, Oakwoods in Nelson and its Ilam development site in Christchurch.

Goldman Sachs acted as sole lead manager, placement agent, underwriter and bookrunner for the offer.

Goldman and Arrow International sold Vision Senior Living into Metlifecare in last year's merger for 13 million shares, with the opportunity of a further 7 million shares if the average share price meets a $3 target within 28 months of the deal.

The stock is rated a 'buy' with a price target of $3.70, according to a Reuters survey of three analysts.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:

Your name:
Your email:	Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.

Anti-spam verification:

Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process.

Related News:

UPDATE: Metlifecare shares fall 4.8% as posts drop as first-half profit falls 66%
Transpower seeks up to $125 mln in new bond ahead of November maturity
Metlifecare investigates building problems with Auckland Links Apartment complex
Resource Consent for new Glenfield Village for Metlifecare
Metlifecare undervalued compared with peers, Devon's Glass says
Metlifecare turned to a profit in 2013 after merger boosted property portfolio
Metlifecare to raise $80M via placement, share purchase plan to repay debt
Metlifecare on track for $60M full-year post-merger cashflows
Metlifecare sells Nelson village for $29 million
Metlifecare seeks 67 percent bump for directors' fee pool after merger