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- This morning, Home Consortium (HMC) entered a trading halt before announcing strategic property acquisitions and a $190 million equity raising
- HomeCo is a property group with a unique portfolio of brands such as Woolworths, Coles, The Good Guys, Rebel, McDonalds, and more
- The acquisitions include three Woolworths-owned properties, Aurrum Erina residential aged care property and the Parafield Retail Complex
- The $190 million raise will comprise a fully underwritten institutional placement to raise $140 million as well as a $30 million non-underwritten security purchase plan
- It will also include the issuance of $20 million of securities to Aurrum Aged Care
- This raise will help fund the acquisitions, as well as the associated transaction costs
- Home Consortium remains in a trading halt, with shares last trading for $3 each on June 30
This morning, Home Consortium (HMC) entered a trading halt before announcing strategic property acquisitions and a $190 million equity raising.
HomeCo is an Australian-owned property group that offers a unique mix of everyday needs and inspired lifestyle brands – many of which are anchored by national supermarkets and many of Australia’s most successful retail brands.
Its portfolio contains the likes of Woolworths, Coles, Spotlight, Spud Shed, The Good Guys, Rebel, Aldi, McDonalds, and more.
Acquisitions
Soon after it entered a trading halt, the company announced its plans to acquire three Woolworths anchored convenience-based neighbourhood centres from the Woolworths Group (WOW) for a total of $127.8 million.
The three Woolworths-owned properties include Prestons Place in Prestons, New South Wales, Vincentia Marketplace in Vincentia, New South Wales, and Rosenthal Shopping Centre in Sunbury, Victoria.
It also plans to acquire the Aurrum Erina residential aged care property from Aurrum Aged Care for a total consideration of $32.59 million.
As announced on June 23, HomeCo will acquire the Parafield Retail Complex for $25.5 million.
“The acquisitions announced today are an exciting step for HomeCo and increase daily needs and HealthCo services tenant exposure to 47 per cent, consistent with HomeCo’s strategy of increasing its weighting towards hyper-convenience based retail and healthcare & wellness assets,” Executive Chairman and CEO David Di Pilla said.
“They also strengthen HomeCo’s relationship with Woolworths as a partner and key tenant,” David added.
Equity raising
The $190 million equity raise comprises a fully underwritten institutional placement to raise $140 million, a non-underwritten security purchase plan for eligible security holders to raise $30 million and the issuance of $20 million of securities to Aurrum Aged Care.
The funds from this raise will be used to for the acquisitions as well as the associated transaction costs from this placement and security purchase plan.
$140 million placement
The $140 million placement will issue 48,611,111 new securities at $2.88 per new security. This fixed price represents a four per cent discount to the last close price of $3 on June 30 and a 6.9 per cent discount to the five-day volume-weighted average price of $3.09 on June 30.
The placement will be fully underwritten by Goldman Sachs Australia.
New securities under the placement are expected to be issued on July 6 and will trade normally the following day.
Security purchase plan
Eligible security holders in Australia and New Zealand will be able to subscribe for up to $30,000 in new securities, free of transaction and brokerage costs.
The company believes the SPP will enable non-institutional security holders to participate and potentially increase their percentage holdings in HomeCo.
The SPP will open on July 8 and will close on July 21. SPP securities will be allocated on July 28.
Home Consortium remains in a trading halt with shares last trading for $3 each on June 30.
