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Shares in Newriver REIT PLC climbed on Wednesday as it said it intends to snap up a chunk of shares being sold by an investor. The London-based real estate investment trust, focused primarily on retail and leisure property, intends to buy back up to 47.7 million shares being sold by Growthpoint Properties Ltd at 75 pence each. Growthpoint Properties is the largest South African primary REIT listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Growthpoint said it intends to sell a ‘minimum’ of 47.7 million shares of the 67.4 million it currently owns. Its current stake is around 14.2% of Newriver Reit’s total share capital. Panmure Liberum Ltd, which is acting as sole bookrunner in connection with the placing, said the shares are also being offered to institutional investors by way of an accelerated bookbuild. NewRiver REIT said it believes the buyback is in the best interests of all shareholders. ‘The current share price materially undervalues the company, and the board is of the view that the proposed buyback is an attractive allocation of capital that will be immediately accretive to both underlying funds from operations per share and EPRA net tangible assets per share, thus generating value for shareholders,’ the firm added. The buyback is expected to increase NTA per share by 4% and UFFO per share by 3% on an annualised basis. Newriver REIT said the buyback was a way to reinvest proceeds from the £5.8 million sale of Abbey Centre in Northern Ireland at a material discount to the current net asset value. Shares in Newriver REIT rose 4.3% to 73.30 pence each in London on Wednesday. Growthpoint Properties was down 0.1% at R 14.67 in Johannesburg. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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