Starwood Capital to buy Balanced Commercial Property in £673m deal

(Sharecast News) - Balanced Commercial Property Trust has agreed to be bought by private investment firm Starwood Capital for £673.5m. Under the terms of the agreement announced on Wednesday, BCPT shareholders will receive 96p per share in cash. This represents a premium of around 21.5% to the closing share price of 79p on 12 April, which was the last business day before the start of the offer period.

Compared to BCPT's last reported unaudited net asset vale per share of 105.1p, however, the price represents a discount of around 8.7%.

BCPT chairman Paul Marcuse said: "The BCPT board has explored a range of potential options for the company, including continuation with a revised strategy, a managed wind-down of the portfolio and the partial or full sale of BCPT's share capital or assets.

"The BCPT board is pleased with the interest shown in the company and its portfolio by various credible third parties during the strategic review, which represented a range of sources of capital (including UK institutional capital, private equity investors, listed real estate peers and asset managers). The BCPT board has carefully considered each of the company's strategic options, benchmarked against the likely returns that could be achieved in a managed wind-down.

"Following careful consideration, and having taken independent third-party advice, we believe that the proposed transaction with Starwood offers a successful outcome for our shareholders, offering a full cash exit at a significant premium to BCPT's undisturbed share price."