Real estate joins rush for Covid-crunch funding

Estate agents, housebuilders and REITs are among the real estate firms tapping shareholders for fresh equity during the coronavirus pandemic. London-listed companies have secured more than £3bn through “Covid-19-related equity raises” since mid-March, according to analysts at brokerage firm Peel Hunt. Among the largest is a £185m issuance from healthcare REIT Assura, which said the new funding will allow it to finance its development and acquisition pipeline as well as maintain a conservative loan-to-value ratio. More recently, estate agency Foxtons raised £22m, saying the sum would give it “sufficient liquidity and flexibility” in the event of a drawn-out lockdown and slow recovery in London’s property market. AIM-listed builder Inland Homes raised £9.9m last week. The company has lost transactions worth a combined £46.2m since the Covid-19 crisis began and said the new money will help it to pay sub-contractors and other firms in its supply chain. The largest coronavirus-linked equity raising in the UK is a £1bn deal for events group Informa. The company said the funding will strengthen its balance sheet and lower its debt. “Whilst the power of the group’s B2B events businesses continues to be evidenced by customer rebookings and low demand for rebates, it is now clear that the path to the other side of the Covid-19 global pandemic will be more gradual and phased than initially thought,” Informa said at the time of the equity raising earlier in April. On the continent, equity raisings during the crisis have risen to £2.8bn as of 1 May from just £300m only two weeks ago, Peel Hunt’s team said. To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@egi.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @estatesgazette