LONDON: abrdn Property Income Trust Limited (API) has entered into a significant agreement with GoldenTree Asset Management LP for the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, abrdn Property Holdings Limited (APH). This transaction includes the sale of 39 assets, representing API’s entire investment property portfolio, except for its interest in the land at Far Ralia. The deal, valued at £351 million, will see API’s debt facility with RBSI transferred to GoldenTree.
GoldenTree has already paid a £35.1 million deposit, with the remaining balance due upon completion. The sale price reflects an 8% discount to API’s June 2024 valuation of £381.6 million. Post-transaction, API’s estimated net asset value per share will be 64.0 pence, a 12.7% discount to its June 2024 value but a 6.66% premium to its current share price.
This transaction is part of API’s Managed Wind-Down strategy, approved by shareholders in May 2024, aimed at orderly asset liquidation to maximize returns. The API Board believes this sale offers price certainty and quicker returns for shareholders. Completion is expected by November 29, 2024, with a Q3 dividend of 1 penny per share anticipated before the distribution of sale proceeds.
James Clifton-Brown, Chair of API said: “Since the shareholder vote on 28 May 2024 to put the Company into a Managed Wind Down was passed, the Board, alongside the Investment Manager, explored the most effective means of disposing of the Company’s assets. The aims were to maximise the returns to shareholders but also to return cash to them as soon as possible. The full range of disposal strategies was considered from individual property sales to a wider transaction. Through an independent agent, Gerald Eve, the whole portfolio was marketed to potential buyers in an extensive and competitive process.
Following a second round of bids, the Board considered the GoldenTree Asset Management bid provided the best solution for shareholders, compared with the net present value of what might be achieved by way of individual sales over a longer period and represents a swift implementation of the shareholder resolution to conduct a Managed Wind Down. I would like to thank the team at abrdn who have delivered this outcome for shareholders.”