19 November 2012
Terra Firma, the private equity firm, announces that it has agreed terms for the acquisition of Annington Homes from Nomura International plc. Annington, which owns the Ministry of Defence’s (“MoD”) Married Quarters Estate, is comprised of approximately 40,000 properties. The acquisition is due to complete by the end of 2012.
In 1996, Nomura became one of the largest owners of residential property in the UK through the creation of Annington on the acquisition of the MoD’s Married Quarters Estate which was then made up of over 57,000 properties. The estate was sold and leased back to the MoD with properties being released for sale by Annington as they became surplus to the MoD’s requirements.
Annington’s primary business is renting residential property to the MoD, conducting periodic rent reviews and selling properties released by the MoD. Annington also rents residential property to third parties and has in-house planning and development expertise. Guy Hands, Terra Firma’s Chairman and Founder, sourced the Annington investment for Nomura in 1996 and has managed it on Nomura’s behalf for over 15 years and for the last ten years whilst at Terra Firma.
The Enterprise Value is £3.2 billion, comprised of £1 billion in the form of new equity from a Terra Firma specialist fund and of new debt financing and assumed existing debt of £2.2 billion.
Guy Hands, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Terra Firma, said:
“Annington is an outstanding success story. It is a pure play UK residential property company with a blue chip tenant on a lease of over 180 years and with the ability to benefit from the strength of the property market. We look forward to working with Annington’s management as it moves on to the next stage in its development.”
James Hopkins, Chief Executive of Annington Homes, said:
“This transaction enables Terra Firma and Annington to move forward together with confidence and to continue our track record of delivery to all our stakeholders.”
Barclays is the sole financial advisor to Terra Firma Holdings Limited on its acquisition of Annington Homes.
For further information:
Finsbury
Andrew Dowler
020 7251 3801