Songbird share sale
SONGBIRD Estates, which owns a large part of London’s Canary Wharf development, yesterday joined the rush of property companies to tap investors with a fund-raising package worth £1.03billion.
It is raising £620million in a share placing and open offer, £275million through a placing of preference shares and £135million through loans from major shareholders.
The record share sale, which surpasses Land Securities’ £756million fund raising in February, will allow Songbird to repay £880million of debt . Following the deal Qatar Holding will be the biggest shareholder with a 30 per cent stake while China Investment Corporation will have 20 per cent and entrepreneur Simon Glick 25 per cent. Chairman David Pritchard said: “We can now look forward to the future with a greater degree of confidence.”
Songbird said 97.7 per cent of its space at Canary Wharf was let at the end of June. The value of its property portfolio was down 5.5 per cent since December to £4.24billion.