Yew Grove shareholders back €127.8m sale to Canadian property group

Shareholders in Yew Grove Reit, the owner of office and industrial assets outside Dublin's city centre, backed a plan for the company to sell itself to Canadian property group Slate Office Reit for €127.8 million.

A number of resolutions at an extraordinary general meeting on the proposed deal were passed by a majority of about 90 per cent, with holders of more than half of the company’s stock participating in the votes.

The completion of the deal remains subject to High Court approval.

Including Yew Grove’s €49.5 million of borrowings, the Slate Office takeover plan implies an overall enterprise value of €177.4 million on the Dublin-listed company, which is focused on office and industrial assets let to State entities, IDA-supported companies and large corporates.

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Yew Grove, led by chief executive Jonathan Laredo, floated on the Irish stock market in June 2018 after raising €75 million in an initial public offering (IPO). However, the value of its property portfolio, at €168 million as of the end of June, is considerably below the €300 million to €500 million asset base the real estate investment trust (Reit) had been targeting within three years of the IPO.

The company has struggled since its IPO to raise large amounts of capital quickly enough to pursue deals and build a business of scale.

While property investor Quanta Capital, led by Mel Sutcliffe, which owns 4.5 per cent of Yew Grove, had signalled in the wake of the Slate Office announcement in mid-November that it may mount a rival bid, it ultimately decided against making an offer.