Intu in talks with Asian investor over equity raise

Intu has confirmed it is in talks with Asian property giant Link Real Estate Investment Trust to help the ailing shopping centre landlord raise £1bn of emergency cash. It follows reports in the Sunday Times that the Hong Kong-listed company is in talks with intu to become the “cornerstone investor” in its planned equity raise at the end of February, and that Peel Group (which owns 27.3% of the company) backs the plan. In a statement released this morning, intu said it is “engaged in constructive discussions” with “shareholders, including the Peel Group and others, and new investors including Link Real Estate Investment Trust and others” in regards to its plans to raise cash. Last month, intu confirmed it was targeting an equity raise at the end of February after stating in a trading update last year that raising cash was “likely to form part of the solution” in dealing with its liquidity requirements. The company’s loan-to-value ratio stood at 57.7% – still some way off fits sub-50% target – and £926m of the company’s £4.7bn debt pile will mature in 2021. The landlord has also been disposing of assets to improve its balance sheet. In December, the company announced it had sold Spanish mall Puerto Venecia for €475m, of which intu’s share of the proceeds was €238m, and in total, nearly £500m of disposals were made over the course of last year. Negotiations for the disposal of intu Asturias in northern Spain are at an advanced stage. To send feedback, e-mail lucy.alderson@egi.co.uk or tweet @LucyAJourno or @estatesgazette