Shaftesbury saw the most drastic stock price fall in the FTSE All-Share today as it pushed through a huge equity raising to bolster the business in the wake of coronavirus.
The West End landlord secured backing from existing shareholders, with CapCo committing to £65m and Norges £80m. After trading ended it had successfully raised £297m at a 19.7% discount to yesterday’s closing price.
While Shaftesbury stocks plummeted by 15.7% to 420p, their lowest level in almost a decade, CapCo also suffered, dropping by 9.39% to end the day at 103.2p.
Elsewhere, a rocky day for estate agency Countrywide concluded with a 10.5% drop in share price, to 165p.
The estate agency group has struck a deal for a £90m investment from private equity firm Alchemy Partners, which will take a majority stake in the beleaguered business with a plan to turn it around.
Catalist Partners, one of the Countrywide’s largest shareholders, opposed the recapitalisation, labelling the plans “ill-judged” and “destructive”. The sale also throws into doubt the likelihood of a sale of Lambert Smith Hampton, with Alchemy planning to expand the commercial business’s services and geography if it seals the deal.
The FTSE 100 rose by 0.16% to 5,786 and the FTSE 250 ended up 0.6% at 17,894.
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