Mill Residential REIT plc
("The Company" or "The Group")
Admission to trading on AIM and first day of dealings
Stock Ticker: MRR
Highlights
* Mill Residential REIT becomes the UK's first ever mainstream, buy-to-let
REIT specialising in residential property on admission to AIM
* The Company's successful stock market listing today provides the first way
for investors to hold residential property in their ISAs, SIPPs, and other
long term savings
* The Company has raised gross proceeds of £987,500 via a placing, giving the
Group a market capitalisation of £3.5m
* The placing follows a successful fundraising via crowd funding site
SyndicateRoom and a subscription into the Company direct on 17 December
2014 which raised £1.5m
* Proven management team with extensive track record in residential real
estate will seek to execute a growth strategy that aims to generate
increases in net asset value per share for investors
* Company intends to pay dividends on a semi-annual basis, targeting an
average annualised dividend yield of three per cent.
Mill Residential REIT plc, the UK's first ever mainstream, buy-to-let REIT
specialising in residential property investment, is pleased to announce that
its entire issued ordinary share capital, which comprises 3,502,020 ordinary
shares of 10 pence each, has today been admitted to trading on AIM, a market
operated by the London Stock Exchange ("AIM"), under the ticker "MRR". The
ordinary shares of the Company were recently allotted at 100 pence per share.
The Company intends to grow rapidly and will seek to generate growth in net
asset value per share for investors through a combination of growth in asset
values, buying at attractive prices, and using REIT tax benefits.
Mill Residential REIT's initial portfolio comprises seven buy-to-let properties
located in high demand commuter locations in London and Southern England and
the Group's strategy is to create a low risk, sustainable and diversified
portfolio of residential rental properties within desirable areas of the UK
with the long term vision of becoming a consolidator in the growing private
rented sector.
Mill Residential REIT will be advised on property acquisitions, disposals and
asset management by subsidiaries of Mill Group Holdings, an established UK
property real estate fund, asset and investment management group. Mill Finance
will act as the investment adviser to the Company and Mill Residential REIT
Management will act as asset manager.
The Mill Team comprises an experienced team of property and finance
professionals and is led by David Toplas and Simon Phillips, who each have over
20 years' experience in the UK real estate sector. The Mill Residential REIT
board will be chaired by Ian Ellis, former Chief Executive of Land Securities
Trillium Limited and a main board director of Land Securities Group plc.
Mill Group Residential Chief Executive, David Toplas said:
"We are delighted to have successfully joined AIM as the UK's first ever
residential REIT focused on the mainstream, residential property market and are
looking forward to delivering our growth strategy. I firmly believe that the
Company will be an attractive way for people to invest their pension savings in
a familiar asset class of "buy-to-let" property, via a hassle-free format of a
tax efficient REIT company share. This sector has regularly out-performed all
other real estate asset classes over the last 30 years on a total returns basis
and look forward to the future."
Mill Residential REIT Chairman Ian Ellis said:
"The housing shortage facing the UK is well known and, with the young
professionals and families of `Generation Rent' struggling to obtain
traditional mortgages, long term renting has become an alternative to home
ownership. Despite this, the private rented sector remains dominated by
individual buy-to-let landlords so I am very excited about the potential for
the Mill Residential REIT to play a long term role in helping to consolidate
what is a highly fragmented market place."
The company's Admission Document is available to view at
www.millresidentialreit.co.uk
-ENDS-
For further information please contact:
Mill Residential REIT plc David Toplas/Simon Phillips 020 7930 8600
Nominated Adviser and Broker Virginia Bull/Andrew Wagstaff 020 7628 2200
Sanlam Securities UK Max Bascombe
Financial PR
MHP Communications James White 020 3128 8100
Positive Profile Henry Gewanter 07774 228845
Placing Statistics
Placing Price per Ordinary Share 100p
Number of Ordinary Shares in issue following Admission 3,502,020
Percentage of issued Share Capital represented by the Placing Shares 28.2%
Market capitalisation of the Company at the Placing Price following Admission £3.5m
AIM "ticker" MRR
About Mill Group Residential
Mill Group Residential is an independent specialist residential investment
manager with a successful track record of more than 20 years. The group's focus
is on long-term income generation through targeted asset acquisition and active
management in the residential sector. The private rented sector is a key
strategic planned area of growth for the group.
Since 1994, Mill Group has demonstrated its expertise in conceiving, building
and operating social infrastructure and residential property funds. The team
has managed £2.5bn of assets, including £1bn of residential property across a
number of successful platforms.
What is a UK-REIT?
In brief, a UK real estate investment trust (REIT) is a company that owns, and
in most cases, manages income-producing real estate. Modelled after mutual
funds, REITs provide investors of all types stable income streams,
diversification and long-term capital appreciation. Rental income of the REIT
will, in most cases, be exempt from UK taxation. REITs are required to pay out
90% of their calculated net exempt income as a special type of dividend (known
as a property income distribution or PID) to shareholders. In turn,
shareholders will be subject to tax on those dividends (unless falling within
certain exemptions such as registered pension schemes or charities).
REITs allow anyone to invest in portfolios of properties the same way they
invest in other industries i.e. through the purchase of shares in the REIT. In
the same way shareholders benefit by owning shares in other corporations, the
shareholders of a REIT earn a share of the income produced through real estate
investment without actually having to go out and buy or finance property. PIDs
are therefore subject to taxation as if they are a separate property income
stream.
REITs also have the advantage of being exempt from corporation tax on most
property capital gains, which brings various benefits such as having a
competitive advantage on corporate acquisitions. This benefit can potentially
be shared with the vendor to increase their post-tax proceeds and reduce the
REITs purchase price.
In the UK, REITs own many types of commercial real estate, ranging from office
and apartment buildings to warehouses, hospitals, shopping centres and hotels.
Mill Residential REIT would be the first REIT focused solely on the mainstream,
UK residential property market.