Latest news with #TritaxBigBox
Times
10 hours ago
- Business
- Times
Boxing clever for the London market
Is the London stock market finally fighting back? Two days after Primary Health Properties gazumped KKR in the bid for Assura, look at this: Tritax Big Box Reit giving the shareholders of Warehouse Reit a shedload of reasons to turn down an offer from Blackstone. Who says UK-listed companies are too timid to take on big US cash buyers? Selling out to Blackstone for £470 million cash, at 109p a share, never looked great for Warehouse. Since its September 2017 float, it has raised £425 million equity from investors to build a portfolio spanning 6.9 million sq ft: one ostensibly valued at £805 million and with an annual rent roll of £42.5 million. It's in a go-go bit of the market, too: multi-let warehouses in urban locations, used by everyone from light manufacturers to ecommerce groups, where, thanks to planning constraints, demand outweighs supply. And, yet, here was the board, chaired by Neil Kirton, rolling over to Blackstone for a price at a 14.8 per cent discount to Warehouse's net asset value of 128p a share. In some ways it was worse than that, too. The board had succumbed even after the US asset manager cut its proposed 113½p offer after a row over Warehouse's Radway Green site near Crewe. You don't have to be a shed aficionado, like Lord Cameron of Greensill, say, ensconced in his shepherd's hut, to spot how that sort of stock market exit for Warehouse was all a bit subpar. So, the board can thank Big Box for making things more interesting. Its chairman Aubrey Adams has delivered an alternative that would create a bigger, complementary listed business. Big Box is offering 0.4236 new shares for each of Warehouse's, 47.2p per share cash, and two quarterly 1.6p dividends: a total 114¼p a share, or £485 million. Warehouse investors would take a chunk of cash and still hold 6.8 per cent of the bigger business, sharing in the upside and a swift £5.5 million of annual cost synergies. In short, enough for the Warehouse board to switch its recommendation to a Big Box bid at a 4.8 per cent premium to Blackstone's. True, that didn't last long: Big Box shares fell 3 per cent to 146½p, repricing its offer at 112½p, just below Warehouse's 112¾p closing price, up 6 per cent. And, of course, Blackstone can afford to come back: the private equity and real estate giant is valued at $170 billion-plus. Yet, do long-term investors really want to cash out at a price well below NAV, even if it is much less than the one-third discount Warehouse was trading at before Blackstone pitched up? Thanks to the share element of Big Box's bid, it was able to argue that, based on its own NAV of 185.6p per share, its offer was at a mere 1.7 per cent discount to Warehouse's NAV. Shore Capital analysts reckon the Big Box bid is 'in tune with shareholder objectives' of 'long-term value over short-term cash'. And, while sell-side analysts have vested interests in keeping companies on the stock market, Shore has a case that the deal looks 'a good outcome' for both sides, with a bigger Big Box extending its 'offering' into 'last-mile urban' — a market it's been pursuing, as last year's purchase of UK Commercial Property Reit showed. Box clever and it could yet deliver a better outcome for the UK market, too. So much for conserving energy. Global demand for every sort hit fresh records last year, in what looks a blow for the green lobby: far from displacing fossil fuels, renewable power is, for now, merely adding to them, with carbon emissions up again (page 38). Who's crunched the numbers? The Energy Institute, whose annual review, showing a 2 per cent rise in total energy demand to a record 592 exajoules, is aglow with highlights. Take this eyecatcher: for the first time since 2006, world production of coal, oil, gas, renewables, hydro and nuclear hit all-time highs last year. So, even if wind and solar power did expand by 16 per cent — nine times faster than total energy demand — it still wasn't enough to 'counterbalance rising demand elsewhere'. The upshot? Fossil fuel use rose 1 per cent, still making up 86.6 per cent of total demand, with emissions up 1 per cent: the fourth high in four years. Amid that, China played the role of main goodie and baddie: the 'paradox', as the institute's Nick Wayth put it, of being 'both the world's biggest driver of clean energy growth and its largest source of emissions'. It was responsible for more than 60 per cent of all extra solar and wind capacity last year but still 'generated nearly 60 per cent of its electricity' from coal. Meanwhile, even before the arrival of a 'drill, baby, drill' president, US oil production hit a new record of more than 20 million barrels a day to all but equal the combined output of Saudi Arabia and the Russian Federation. Electricity demand growth, at 4 per cent, outpaced energy demand. But, with governments struggling to balance affordability, supply security and decarbonisation, you can see why Wayth calls it a 'disorderly transition', with emissions still moving 'in the wrong direction'. You don't have to be a Muppet to spot it's not easy being green. Another day, another ridiculing for Rachel Reeves's claims that her budget did not affect 'working people'. This time it's from the British Chambers of Commerce, whose director general, Shevaun Haviland, will today unveil a survey of more than 570 businesses. Its key finding? That a third of them have 'either made staff redundant or are planning to as a direct result of the national insurance contributions increase'. Maybe they're not the sort of working people the chancellor had in mind.
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Warehouse REIT spurns private equity predator Blackstone in favour of UK-listed rival Tritax Big Box
Warehouse Reit has become the second firm in days to spurn private equity predators as it jilted Blackstone for UK-listed rival Tritax Big Box. Despite agreeing to sell itself to the world's largest private equity firm earlier this month, it has plumped for a deal that values it at £485million, creating a landlord worth more than £4billion – nudging it close to a possible future entry into the FTSE 100. And it came after the GP surgery owner Assura snubbed private equity group KKR this week to back a £1.8billion bid from rival Primary Health Properties. The deals underline fears over an exodus from London's shrinking stock market amid a take-over frenzy. Warehouse Reit owns dozens of industrial estates, with tenants including Amazon, the NHS, Argos, John Lewis, DHL and Costa Coffee. Blackstone had swooped with a bid at 109p per share, valuing it at £470million. But Warehouse Reit's board decided to withdraw its support for this to back an offer from Tritax, which values the group at 114p per share.
Times
21 hours ago
- Business
- Times
Warehouse Reit jilts private equity for a Tritax Big Box takeover
A London-listed warehouse owner has jilted Blackstone, the world's biggest private equity firm, in favour of a £485 million merger with a larger rival. Warehouse Reit had agreed this month to sell itself to Blackstone for £470 million but confirmed on Wednesday morning that it was reneging on that deal to recommend shareholders vote instead to merge with Tritax Big Box Reit. The move follows hot on the heels of Assura's decision on Tuesday to abandon its sale to KKR, another US private equity firm, and seek a merger with Primary Health Properties, one of its peers. A tie-up between Warehouse Reit and Big Box would create a London-listed landlord with £7.4 billion of giant warehouses next to motorways, industrial estates and inner-city delivery depots and manufacturing hubs. With a combined stock market value in excess of £4 billion, it would be on the fringes of the FTSE 100. A merger would deliver immediate cost savings of £5.5 million a year which, when coupled with 'sizeable near-term rent reversion' across the portfolio, would boost earnings. 'The strategic rationale for the [merger] is very clear and having engaged closely with the Big Box team, we are confident in their ability to deliver value from this combination and to generate enhanced earnings and dividends for both Big Box and Warehouse shareholders,' Neil Kirton, chairman of Warehouse Reit, said. 'Warehouse shareholders will further benefit from the increased liquidity that comes from being invested in a larger company, providing them with greater optionality over when to crystalise returns.' Big Box's offer comprises £200 million in cash, £14 million to cover Warehouse Reit's next two quarterly dividends and the rest — roughly £270 million — in Big Box shares, which would give Warehouse Reit shareholders just shy of 7 per cent of the enlarged group. That cash-and-shares offer works out to 114.2p for each Warehouse Reit share, compared with the 109p a share that Blackstone had tabled. Warehouse Reit shares rose 6¼p, or 5.8 per cent, to 113p on Wednesday morning, while Big Box shares retreated 3½p, or 2.3 per cent, to 147p, reflecting the potential dilution from issuing new shares to fund the deal. Warehouse Reit owns dozens of industrial estates from Aberdeen down to Wareham in Dorset. It collects about £45 million in rent from its portfolio, which was last valued at £810 million. Most of its tenants are household names: the NHS, Argos, John Lewis, DHL and Costa Coffee. Tritax Big Box owns 100 or so buildings in England and Scotland, mostly huge metal sheds used as storage and distribution hubs by the likes of Amazon, Ocado and Morrisons. Its portfolio was last valued at £6.6 billion and generates £314 million a year in rental income. Blackstone had initially tabled a 115p-a-share offer for Warehouse Reit but knocked that down amid a disagreement over how much a parcel of land near Crewe was worth. As with Assura, shareholders had raised concerns that Warehouse Reit was selling out to private equity at the bottom of the commercial property market, with valuations starting to recover after a tough few years. Reflecting the jump in interest rates since 2022, values of warehouses, as with all commercial properties, have fallen by about a fifth. That is despite rents remaining strong, underpinned by a shortage of supply and the post-pandemic popularity of online shopping and companies increasingly 'near-shoring' their stockpiles and manufacturing capabilities. 'It looks like the window for private equity to buy [listed property companies] on the cheap is closing,' one industry investor said.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tritax Big Box to buy rival Warehouse in £485m deal
Tritax Big Box has agreed a £485.2 million deal to buy a London-listed rival, fending off a competing bid by private equity giant Blackstone. Warehouse REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) said on Wednesday its bosses have recommended the proposed takeover by Tritax. The deal will value Warehouse – which owns a raft of distribution sites run by companies including Amazon – at 114.2p per share. It comes weeks after Warehouse originally agreed to be bought by US private equity firm Blackstone for £470 million. Warehouse shares jumped in early trading after it confirmed the new takeover plan. Bosses at Tritax said the deal 'has a compelling strategic and financial rationale' for shareholders in both companies. The firms said the move would deliver £5.5 million a year in immediate cost synergies due to larger economies of scale. Aubrey Adams, the chairman of Tritax Big Box, said: 'This transaction delivers value accretion to both Tritax Big Box and Warehouse shareholders driven by immediate cost synergies, rental reversion and strong structural drivers supporting valuation and income growth in urban and big box logistics. 'The board is delighted to be able to offer Warehouse shareholders the opportunity to be invested in the upside potential of the UK's leading listed logistics real estate portfolio, whilst also providing the certainty of a partial cash offer.' Neil Kirton, the chairman of Warehouse, said: 'The board is pleased to be recommending the acquisition, which is not only at a higher level to the previous offer for the company, but which also provides Warehouse shareholders with the opportunity to retain both the Warehouse Q4 and Q1 dividends and remain invested in this attractive asset class.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Independent
a day ago
- Business
- The Independent
Tritax Big Box to buy rival Warehouse in £485m deal
Tritax Big Box has agreed a £485.2 million deal to buy a London-listed rival, fending off a competing bid by private equity giant Blackstone. Warehouse REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) said on Wednesday its bosses have recommended the proposed takeover by Tritax. The deal will value Warehouse – which owns a raft of distribution sites run by companies including Amazon – at 114.2p per share. It comes weeks after Warehouse originally agreed to be bought by US private equity firm Blackstone for £470 million. Warehouse shares jumped in early trading after it confirmed the new takeover plan. Bosses at Tritax said the deal 'has a compelling strategic and financial rationale' for shareholders in both companies. The firms said the move would deliver £5.5 million a year in immediate cost synergies due to larger economies of scale. Aubrey Adams, the chairman of Tritax Big Box, said: 'This transaction delivers value accretion to both Tritax Big Box and Warehouse shareholders driven by immediate cost synergies, rental reversion and strong structural drivers supporting valuation and income growth in urban and big box logistics. 'The board is delighted to be able to offer Warehouse shareholders the opportunity to be invested in the upside potential of the UK's leading listed logistics real estate portfolio, whilst also providing the certainty of a partial cash offer.' Neil Kirton, the chairman of Warehouse, said: 'The board is pleased to be recommending the acquisition, which is not only at a higher level to the previous offer for the company, but which also provides Warehouse shareholders with the opportunity to retain both the Warehouse Q4 and Q1 dividends and remain invested in this attractive asset class.'
