LONDON: Victoria Property Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of the Martin Property Group, is proposing a cash offer to acquire Ground Rents Income Fund plc (GRIO) following the rejection of three previous offers.
Victoria Property closely monitored GRIO over the past year, seeing the company navigate wider residential market uncertainties.
The Martin Property Group is a family-run real estate investment and development group focused on strategic repositioning of assets across the UK and Ireland, building a substantial portfolio over 45 years.
Victoria Property previously submitted three non-binding offers to GRIO’s Board in November and December 2024.
Despite increasing their offers twice, the Board declined to engage and rejected each one.
On January 7, 2025, Victoria Property announced a possible cash offer for GRIO at 34.00 pence per share, the same as the third rejected offer.
This represents a 48.5% premium to GRIO’s closing share price on January 7, 2025, a 56.1% premium to the one-month volume-weighted average price, and a 57.1% premium to the three-month volume-weighted average price. The offer values GRIO at approximately £32.5 million.
The cash consideration would be funded from Victoria Property’s available cash resources. The Board of Victoria Property believes GRIO shareholders would want to assess the offer terms and encourages them to urge GRIO’s Board to engage with Victoria Property.
Victoria Property highlights that GRIO secured support from shareholders in April 2023 for a revised Investment Policy to liquidate the portfolio and return capital to shareholders. However, only three assets have been sold, representing around £11 million of the portfolio.
Victoria Property believes the current Investment Policy will result in a prolonged exit period with elevated operating costs and uncertainty. They argue that their cash offer provides a highly attractive exit opportunity without the risks and expenses associated with the current policy.
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