The FTSE 250 property investment and development company intends to use the proceeds of the placing to fund the acquisition of new assets and to finance newly committed distribution developments.

A total of 62,804,390 new ordinary shares, representing almost 10% of LondonMetric’s issued share capital, were placed by Peel Hunt and JP Morgan Cazenove, with shares priced at 152p. 

"Our increased commitment to distribution through acquisitions and short-cycle developments has clearly been welcomed by the market today and we are grateful for the support of shareholders in making this a successful capital raise,” said Andrew Jones, chief executive officer at LondonMetric.

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“Our strong track record together with our committed investments and our active pipeline of opportunities means that we expect to deploy these funds at pace and deliver on our plans to increase distribution exposure to at least 70% within a year."

The net proceeds will be used to fund committed and potential investments and new developments that amount to £100m.

This includes £42m to fund distributed developments in Dagenham, Stoke and Crawley with an anticipated yield on cost of 6.2%, while £28m will be used to fund recently completed distribution investments acquired at a blended net initial yield of 5.9% and a reversionary yield of 6.4%.

£30m will also be used to fund a pipeline of last mile and regional distribution investments and LondonMetric expects to deploy close to 75% of the net proceeds within six months.

“Earlier this week, we secured two further last mile acquisitions and today we have announced major pre-lettings to Eddie Stobart and Michelin, alongside the letting to Amazon,” said Andrew.

“These transactions highlight the compelling market opportunities that exist and we expect to deploy raised funds at pace, leading to accretive earnings, while maintaining a progressive and fully covered dividend.”