KEY POINTS:
St Laurence Property and Finance Ltd (SLPF) today issued a prospectus for a signalled rights issue to raise $18.19 million to help repay maturing debentures and fund three specific development opportunities.
SLPF said the prospectus for its pro-rata renounceable rights issue of 25.99 million new mandatory convertible property notes has been registered.
Holders of existing mandatory convertible property notes are entitled to take up one new note for every five existing notes.
St Laurence Ltd has agreed to take up its full entitlement of 7.6 million notes for $5.3 million.
The company said the issue price of 70c for the new notes was attractive as the notes paid a fixed coupon rate of 9 per cent on a face value of $1. This equates to a 12.9 per cent per annum for the seven months from allotment until December 1, when the notes convert into fully paid ordinary shares.
The issue is less than the $24.4 million previously signalled by the company and the issue price of 70c is less than the previously signalled 75c.
"We expect that there will be an appetite for the new notes, but to cover any short-fall, SLPF has put in place an over-subscriptions facility where existing note holders who subscribe in full for their entitlement will be able to apply for additional new notes up to a further 50 per cent of their entitlement," SLPF chief executive Kevin Podmore said.
"Several attractive development opportunities have been identified, including a new design-build industrial warehouse in Mt Wellington, Auckland which will be tenanted by information, communications and technology company Express Data.
"We also intend to double the floor plate size of our office building in the government precinct of Molesworth Street, Thorndon, Wellington, and add an additional floor to the St Laurence House office building near the viaduct in Quay Street, Auckland."
Trading of the rights will commence on the Unlisted platform on March 31.
Dorchester Pacific owns 25 per cent of St Laurence Ltd, which owns 29 per cent of SLPF.
- NZPA
