Grainger raises £209m in placing to fund acquisitions

Residential landlord Grainger said on Thursday that it has raised £209m in a placing, partly to fund two recent acquisitions and buy at least two schemes within its Planning & Legals pipeline.

The company placed a total of just under 67.4m shares at 310p each, which is a 4.6% discount to the closing share price on Wednesday. Grainger said the placing was significantly oversubscribed with "considerable support" from existing shareholders.

As part of the placing, new chief financial officer Rob Hudson bought 112,900 shares.

Chief executive Helen Gordon said: "We are delighted with the support we have received from our shareholders. Grainger has a well- articulated growth strategy to further strengthen our nationwide PRS market leadership position with 10,000 homes and a further pipeline to almost double that.

"Our vision is to continue to provide high quality, mid-market, well located rental homes. This placing secures significant growth in net rental income and therefore dividend."

Announcing the launch of the placing late on Wednesday, Grainger said the proceeds would enable it to accelerate its growth strategy by bringing forward new schemes and adding new accretive acquisitions in its pipeline, "while retaining a robust and disciplined capital structure and enhancing future shareholder returns".

Proceeds will be used to fund the acquisitions of Becketwell in Derby and The Forge in Newcastle. They will also be used to buy at least two schemes within the company's Planning & Legals pipeline, which are being actively pursued and which are under offer and nearing exchange.

The Planning & Legals pipeline consists of two schemes located in London and the South East of England comprising 580 homes and representing a total investment value of £202m.