By Dipo Olowookere
The transfer of the 51 per cent stake of UAC Nigeria Plc in its subsidiary, UAC Property Development Company (UPDC) Plc, to Custodian Investment has been completed.
This means UAC Nigeria has now transferred the entire 9,465,584,668 ordinary shares of UPDC in its possession to Custodian Investment, giving room for Custodian Investment to begin the process of transforming the real estate firm effectiveness.
The transaction was done in two tranches with the first seeing the sale of 946,558,467 shares, representing 5.10 per cent of the issued share capital of UPDC to Custodian Investment and the second, the transfer of 8,519,026,201 shares, representing 45.90 per cent.
The second part of the agreement was sealed last week and the block divestment was carried out through Interstate Securities Limited, a firm owned by Custodian Investment.
Business Post recalls that in August 2020, when both parties announced this deal, Custodian Investment said it views the real estate as a complementary sector to its product offering in spite of its recent challenges.
Custodian Investment said it would leverage on the over two decades of UPDC’s strong track record as a leading developer to drive its core property development business, saying that the recent rights issue to recapitalise the company has stabilised UPDC, thus creating a foundation for growth and added that UAC Nigeria’s continued ownership of a minority interest in UPDC will facilitate a smooth transition.
The firm described UPDC REIT as highly cash generative with recurring income streams, saying it has distributed an average of N1.4 billion per annum over the last five years.
“Rental income from UPDC REIT is underpinned by leases with first-tier tenants. This presents a good match for our business,” it said.
“UPDC has N10 billion of assets for sale which the management team will focus on realising to provide shareholders with liquidity,” it added.
In recent times, UAC Nigeria has said it would focus on its core business by offloading subsidiaries not in line with its growth strategy so as to give more value to shareholders.
Adedapo Adesanya