Birmingham’s Mailbox will be the first asset floated on commercial property exchange IPSX.
The mixed-use building will be held in M7 Real Estate’s Mailbox REIT, which aims to raise up to £62.5m, selling shares at 100p each.
M7, which is also a shareholder in IPSX, will retain indirect ownership of about 46% of the REIT’s share capital. Its M7 Real Estate Financial Services subsidiary will act as alternative investment fund manager to the company.
The Mailbox is a 698,000 sq ft office-led property on a 4.8-acre site in central Birmingham. The property has been valued at £179m and generates a passing rent of £9.3m per annum with an ERV of £12.8m.
The REIT is targeting an initial annual dividend payment of 5p per ordinary share, paid quarterly, with the first interim dividend expected in Q1 2021.
The company will be chaired by Stephen Barter, chairman of KPMG and former UK chief executive of Qatari Diar. Its board also comprises Mickola Wilson, the former chief executive of Teesland and managing director of Guardian Properties, and Ian Womack, the former chief executive of Avia Investors and a senior adviser to IPSX.
Richard Croft, executive chairman of M7 Real Estate, added: “After almost a decade of record low interest rates and no sign of any change to that status quo, we have an environment where investor appetite for asset-backed investments underpinned by high-quality income is arguably stronger than ever before.
“We are therefore firm believers in IPSX’s potential to help alleviate that demand, while at the same time transforming and democratising real estate investment, by making prime landmark assets such as the Mailbox available to all types of investors, large and small, through liquid shares that are tradeable on a new regulated stock exchange.”
David Delaney group chief executive, IPSX said: “This is a watershed moment in the history of IPSX, which has the capacity to be a great success story in UK innovation. Many years of hard work have been undertaken to get the exchange to this stage.
“We have a strong pipeline of further IPOs and we are eagerly anticipating their introduction to the market.”
WH Ireland is acting as IPSX lead adviser and joint bookrunner with Panmure Gordon.
To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette
