Quintain announces the sale of units in The Quercus Healthcare Property Partnership ("Quercus" / the "Fund") for a total cash consideration of £31.3 million. The units have been sold to a number of UK institutional pension funds through the anonymous matched bargain dealing facility provided by Aviva Investors, Quintain's partner in the Fund.
This transaction was undertaken as part of Quintain's strategy to repatriate cash and reduce gearing, thereby enhancing the Company's financial flexibility. The proceeds of the disposal bring the total amount of cash repatriated since April 1, 2009 to over £42 million, representing 85% of the £50 million Quintain had targeted to raise in the year to 31 March 2010. The total cash repatriated by the Group since April 1, 2008, is now £140 million.
Quercus is the largest fund within Quintain Fund Management. As at June 30, 2009, it had £759.9 million in funds under management and owned 264 assets, comprising nursing and residential care homes for the elderly, specialist care homes for those with long term disabilities, private hospitals, and care villages. The units were sold at a 12% discount to the Fund's reported NAV at July and a discount to Quintain's March valuation of £10.8 mln., representing a loss against book cost of £1.8 million. In the last 12 months, the units delivered £2.5 million of income to the Group.
As a result of this disposal, Quintain's total holding in Quercus is reduced from 25.4% to 16% and the number of investors in the Fund has increased to 50.
Rebecca Worthington, Finance Director of Quintain, commented: "This disposal represents another important milestone in our cash repatriation programme, taking the total raised to 85% of the £50 million we intend to repatriate by March 31, 2010 and thereby further enhancing Quintain's financial flexibility and control over interest costs."
Source: FD
