French REIT Fonciere des Regions poised to make e467m boost to shareholder equity

French REIT Foncière des Régions has added five Paris office assets worth e267m to its portfolio in a stock and warrants-only deal with insurance groups Groupama and Predica, bringing the former for the first time into its senior shareholder base. The acquisition, which will be submitted to a shareholders meeting on 15 December, will be paid by the issue of 3.9m new FdR shares, of which 1.9m will be issued at a price of e70 for Predica, and 2m at e65 for Groupama. The deal will thus simultaneously boost FdR equity by e267m while, in addition, the group will offer bonus subscription rights to current shareholders to subscribe up to e200m of new shares at similar terms. "This transaction will let Foncière des Régions grow the quality of its assets as well as boost shareholders' equity at an opportune time in the real estate cycle," commented FdR CEO Christophe Kullmann. (Full story upcoming in next issues of PIE/PFE)