Winton Land lists on the NZX

NZX CEO Mark Peterson (left) with Chris and Michaela Meehan of Winton Land (centre) and NZX general manager of capital markets, Sarah Minhinnick, at the listing ceremony for Winton Land

Winton Land shares listed at a small premium on the NZX after raising $350 million in an initial public offer priced at $3.887 a share.

The stock opened trading at $3.94, up 1.4 per cent but by 4pm had slipped just under the offer price at $3.87.

Winton secured a cornerstone investor in Macquarie Asset Management, which took up $200m worth of shares in the IPO. A further $100m was taken up by high-net-worth investors with the balance offered to selected investors nominated by Winton.

The residential property development company listed on the main board of the NZX and with a foreign-exempt listing on the ASX with a market capitalisation of around $1.15 billion.

Its current development pipeline includes 7442 residential lots and dwellings, apartment units and retirement village units from existing projects, with $703m of gross pre-sales secured by mid-November.

About 78 per cent of the company's forecast gross revenue for FY22F and FY23F periods is pre-sold, and 78 per cent of development costs for FY22F and FY23F are currently under contract, the statement said.

"We have a fortress balance sheet and are well-positioned to continue to build the business, using strong cash reserves to capitalise on the growth opportunities that are in front of us," Chief executive Chris Meehan said last week.

Winton's Lakeside development. Photo / Supplied

Winton operates with a conservative capital structure, using minimal debt and some of the equity raised will be used to repay a project finance debt facility relating to one of Winton's developments.

Land acquisition, consenting, development, project, the housing market and sales and Covid-19 disruption risks were cited in the company's pre-listing Product Disclosure Statement.

Winton's ability to achieve forecast sales was depending on the housing market, it said.

The company is also exposed to the impact of Covid disruption and Government measures to attempt to control that, the PDS said.

Meehan said he and his wife Michaela Meehan had founded Winton in 2009 and the business had established the Northbrook retirement living brand three years ago.

After the share offer, those existing shareholders will hold a combined shareholding of 71 per cent to 77.6 per cent of Winton Land.

Winton plans to build many new retirement villages throughout New Zealand.

The company has appointed Julian Cook as executive director.