PRS REIT plc announces £250m placing

Closed-ended real estate investment trust The PRS REIT plc has raised £250m through a placing.

The nine-figure sum will be invested in PRS (private rented sector) developments as part of the Manchester-based trust’s strategy to create a large-scale portfolio of newbuild homes across the UK.

PRS REIT is currently appraising a pipeline of around 3,800 new homes with a value of c.£540m.

The developments are in addition to its current committed investment to create c.1,720 homes in North West, South Yorkshire and Midlands.

PRS REIT chairman Steve Smith said: “We are delighted to have raised £250m in this second round of funding for the PRS REIT, some eight months after its IPO last May, when we raised £250m. The placing has been supported by existing shareholders and we are pleased to welcome new investors.

“We are aiming to create a very substantial portfolio of high quality new houses, mostly focused on middle-income families and these new funds are a key step towards this objective. We believe we are the only PRS operator building new family houses to this scale across England.”

Sigma PRS Management Limited sources investments and manages the assets of PRS REIT.

The firm is a subsidiary of Sigma Capital Group PLC, which has offices in Manchester, London and Edinburgh.

Graham Barnet, founder and chief exec of Sigma, commented: “After fully committing the IPO funds ahead of schedule, it is very satisfying to have raised an additional £250m for The PRS REIT to invest in thousands more newly-built family rental houses.

“Family rental houses remain a critically undersupplied area of the rental market and we are creating well-designed high quality houses near good schools and transport links, which will be professionally managed and offer families security of tenure. Homes England’s involvement, following on from IPO, is also a tremendous signal and we would like to thank the agency for its committed support.”

He added: “We look forward to the next phase of development as the PRS REIT’s Investment Adviser.”