ESKEN LIMITED

Regulatory Filings • Dec 17, 2015

National Storage Mechanism | Additional information

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RNS Number : 3396J

Stobart Group Limited

17 December 2015

Stobart Group Limited

17 December 2015

STOBART GROUP LIMITED

("Stobart", the "Company" or the "Group")

Property Transactions and Share Placing

Stobart Group Limited announces that it has exchanged contracts for the purchase of freehold and long-leasehold interests to investment property assets at Speke in Liverpool on which it currently has leasehold interests.  These purchases will create a number of opportunities for the site, one of which would be for Stobart to enter into a new, extended lease with the existing sub-tenant.

Stobart is acquiring the freehold and long-leasehold interests to the site, which is used by the tenant for storage, from the receivers to Towerbeg Limited for £14.5 million in cash, payable on completion.  The Group has also exchanged contracts to acquire a freehold to an adjoining site, which is used for the same purpose, for £2.25 million in cash, payable on completion. The purchase of these sites will result in the Group saving annual rental payments of £0.75 million. One option would be for the Group to extend and improve the lease terms with the tenant and discussions with the tenant are at an advanced stage.   The long leasehold element, comprising 6 acres of the 53 acre site, is not used by the tenant and will remain available to the Group for other uses.  These arrangements release the Group from a potentially onerous lease liability and are expected to create additional value for the Group on revaluation of the properties.

The aggregate consideration for the two purchases of £16.75 million along with an element of capital expenditure at the site and transaction costs will be funded by a sale of ordinary shares of 10p each in the capital of the Company, which are currently held in treasury, to funds managed by Woodford Investment Management LLP.  The Group has sold 16,396,300 shares ("Treasury Shares"), representing 5.0 per cent. of the Company's existing issued share capital, at 110 pence per share, a premium of 1.9 per cent. to the closing mid-market price of 108 pence on 16 December 2015, to raise £18.0 million before expenses. The property transactions are expected to complete on or around 23 December 2015.

The capital of the Company now consists of 354,328,831 ordinary shares of 10p each, of which 10,006,700 are held in treasury. Therefore the total number of voting rights in the Company is 344,322,131 which may be used by shareholders or other persons as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Rules and Transparency Rules.

Andrew Tinkler, Chief Executive Officer commented:

"We are pleased to have been able to take advantage of the opportunity at Speke as part of our strategy of managing our assets and maximising the value of our property investments.  We expect the transaction to improve the site and generate value for our shareholders."

Enquiries:

Redleaf Polhill	+44 20 7382 4730
Emma Kane
Charlie Geller
i-nfluence Associates	44 20 7287 9610
Stuart Dyble James Andrew

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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