Invista to increase commercial property investment through share placing

The Invista Foundation Property Trust, a Guernsey-domiciled commercial property investor, has announced plans to raise up to £13 million through a share placing.

Invista's board said it planed to issue 32.32 million shares via an accelerated book build which, if approved, would raise funds for new commercial property acquisitions and projects, Citywire reported.

The announcement followed a statement detailing the trust's year-end results which showed that in the 12 months to March 31st its portfolio grew 19.6 per cent, taking its net asset value (NAV) per share to 52.4p, up from 43.8p a year earlier.

In addition, the results showed that the company achieved a number of short-term strategic objectives which included reducing risk and positioning its £129 million portfolio to generate additional rental income and out performance, Citywire said.

Referring to the proposed accelerated book build, Andrew Sykes, chairman of the Invista Foundation Property Trust, commented: "Building on our recent strong track record of portfolio activity, this placing will enable the company to make further attractive acquisitions and invest in the significant income enhancing opportunities which have already been identified to grow income and dividend cover, further enhancing NAV total return."

Shareholders are scheduled to vote on the proposal on August 10th, 2010.