Countryside plc £349 million Sale of Shares, UK
2016
STJ Advisors acted as independent advisor to Oaktree on a £349 million follow-on offering of shares in Countryside plc, a leading UK home builder and urban regeneration partner. Launched during a live market, the placing achieved a 2% premium to the prevailing share price – the only UK ABB(1) in the last two years that has priced at premium, despite this being a relatively large placement representing c. 110 days of stock exchange trading volume. The 2% premium is a sharp contrast to the average 4.8% discount for UK accelerated bookbuild offerings over the last 12 months, and represents a +38% premium to the IPO price and a +35% premium to the last sell-down in January 2017. It was very well received, placed with high quality institutional investors by one of the Company’s corporate brokers. The shares traded well in the aftermarket and closed +5% above the placement price.
This is STJ's third advisory role on Countryside, having advised Oaktree and the management on the successful IPO in February 2016 and the subsequent 10% sell-down in January 2017.
STJ has advised on 6 UK follow-on offerings year to date, which have achieved the tightest discounts in the market.
