Countryside Properties drops as Oaktree sells 15% stake

Housebuilder and regeneration partner Countryside Properties was under the cosh on Friday after private equity firm Oaktree Capital - its largest shareholder - sold a 15% stake in the group.

Oaktree sold 67.5m shares in the company at 340p each through an accelerated bookbuild, amid strong demand.

Barclays and Numis acted as joint bookrunners in connection with the placing, the proceeds of which are payable in cash on usual settlement terms.

Following completion of the placing, Oaktree will retain just under 36.2m shares in Countrysie, representing a stake of around 8%.

Last month, Countryside posted a rise in annual profit as revenue and completions grew amid strong demand.

In the year to the end of September, adjusted operating profit was up 34% to £164.1m on revenue of £1.03bn, up 32% from the year before. Meanwhile, completions increased by 28% to 3,389 and the company hiked its dividend per share to 8.4p from 3.4p.

At 0920 GMT, the shares were down 4.9% to 347.30p.