Meta Estate Trust raises 21 million lei in a private placement, ahead of listing on AeRO market
Meta Estate Trust raises 21 million lei in a private placement, ahead of listing on AeRO market
Bucharest, 13 July 2021 – Meta Estate Trust, a new company on the Romanian real estate market, announces the successful closing of the private placement for its shares and raising of 21 million lei from investors. This financing stage is part of the company’s process of listing shares on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in the first quarter of 2022.The capital raised from investors will be used for the acquisition of apartments in the construction phase in key cities of Romania, as well as for partnerships with, primarily local, real estate developers.
The private placement started on July 8th and closed ahead of schedule, confirming the high interest from investors in the company. Investors who subscribed META shares were allocated shares for the full amount invested. During private placement, a total of 20 million newly issued shares were subscribed by 65 investors, individuals and legal entities, at a price of 1.05 lei per share. The nominal value of a Meta share was 1 lei, to which was added an issue premium of 5%. The minimum value of individual subscription amounted to 100,000 lei and the maximum subscription was capped at 4 million lei per investor. All investors who participated in the private placement benefitted from an allocation of preferential shares in the total amount of 14.425% of capital invested – a premiere on the Romanian capital market. Following the closing of the private placement, the share capital of Meta Estate Trust is 39.1 million lei.
“We are thrilled with the enthusiasm of the investors and their interest in our private placement, well above our initial expectations. The successful closing of Meta’s first placement addressed to BVB investors is a proof that the concept answers the needs of the local capital market. The feedback received thus far is a confirmation that local investors need opportunities to diversify their portfolios through exposure to real estate and Meta’s business concept tailors perfectly to this demand. Encouraged by the positive feedback, we will organize one more private placement ahead of listing Meta on AeRO, in the last quarter of this year, though which we want to raise 35.9 million lei,” said Eugen Voicu, cofounder Meta Estate Trust.
In April 2021 Meta closed its first financing round, after raising 19 million lei from 30 investors. The capital raised in the round fueled the acquisition of 46 properties between April and May 2021 – new apartments based in Bucharest, Constanta and Mamaia North. To maximize the return on investment, before being sold or rented to the end customer, some apartments will be upgraded with the support of Delta Studio, a shareholder in Meta and one of the largest suppliers of luxurious interior design materials in Romania.
The private placement from July 2021 was intermediated by Intercapital Invest S.A. as Authorized Consultant on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, a company with a presence of over 20 years in the Romanian financial market.
“In the first semester of 2021, Intercapital Invest assisted four companies in their listing process on the MultilateralTrading System of BVB, being a company specialized in financing companies through bond issues or shares as well as listing them on the stock exchange. In this endeavor, Intercapital Invest offers consulting services in order to adopt the principles of the corporate governance code specific to issuers, ensures the raising of capital necessary for financing companies, provides support in maintaining the relationship with investors and supervisors and controlauthorities from the issuer quality activities that complement the range of services offered in the field of management and business consulting” said Mihaela Stoica, CEO of Intercapital Invest.
Ahead of floating the META shares on the AeRO market în the first quarter of 2022, the company intends to organize one more financing round to raise capital for further development. The target is to reach the level of 75 million lei in share capital, a goal which will be reached one year earlier than the initial estimates.
„The capital raised today from investors will help cement our position on the Romanian real estate market. We are growing our portfolio, expanding our business scope and enlarging our team already at a pace that is much faster than initially anticipated at this moment. We are thrilled that with the newly raised financing, we can finalize a significant number of projects that we already have in our pipeline. It is also worth to mention the interest that our project has raised not only among investors but also especially among real estate developers who see Meta as a reliable partner for their projects. Also, at this moment, we are also in a position to capitalize only on the best opportunities in the Romanian real estate sector,” said Oriol Casellas Deig, CEO Meta Estate Trust.
Meta Estate Trust has a holding structure and aims to capitalize on the best opportunities in the local real estate sector, focusing on the large urban residential segment, represented in the first stage by Bucharest, Constanta, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi and Timisoara. The activity of Meta Estate Trust focuses on five business lines: the purchase and resale of residential properties, partnerships with real estate developers of residential properties, redevelopment and resale, rental activities and partnership in demarcation and urbanization projects.
Meta’s business model is flexible, with an opportunistic approach with purpose of reaching double-digit returns. In a first phase, the company focuses on the residential real estate and in the medium term, investments will be made in other segments such as logistics, hotels, student or elderly guesthouses, offices or retail spaces. The company will pay dividends obtained from both operating returns as well as the appreciation of the value of the assets held. The profit distribution rate will be up to 100%, for ordinary shares. Between 2022 – 2024, Meta aims to raise a total of 180 million lei.
Meta Estate Trust S.A. has implemented the highest standards of corporate governance being managed by a management company, Meta Management Team SRL, established by the six initiators of the project: Eugen Voicu through Certinvest Management Solutions, Ionuț Nicolescu, President of SVN Romania, Adrian Stanciu, founding member of Erudio and Ascendis Consulting, company Delta Studio, through entrepreneurs, Dragoș Bonea and Alex Bonea, Cosmin Mizof, Head of Risk Management at Certinvest and company Mentor 2 Invest. The objective of the Meta Estate Trust management is to reach a yield target projected as an annual average in the first ten years of over 15%.
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About Meta Estate Trust
Meta Estate Trust SA is a holding company launched on the local real estate market by a group of entrepreneurs with expertise on the real estate and capital markets. The business model is based on a REIT investment structure, with investment pillars in real estate projects, with a focus on the large urban residential segment.