Realstone: Capital increase planned for RSF fund
In order to finance acquisitions, Realstone is carrying out a capital increase for the Realstone RSF real estate fund. The volume is expected to be around CHF 90 million.
Realstone RSF, which resulted from the merger of the two funds Realstone Development Fund and Realstone Swiss Property, intends to issue new units from 22 November to 2 December 2021. A total of 706,078 new units can be subscribed at a price of CHF 129.20, with a subscription ratio of 18:1, i.e. 18 existing units entitle the holder to subscribe to one new unit. The volume of the issue is around CHF 90 million.
The money is to be used, among other things, to finance acquisitions made in the last three months with a total investment of 70 million: On November 10, the fund acquired a property at Alte Landstrasse 135, 139, 144, 153, 161 in Meilen (ZH) for CHF 28 million. It is a "mixed-use property with considerable development potential", Realstone reports. The second property is a residential property under construction on the Route de Chippis in Sion, which was acquired on November 15 for 13 million. The third is a residential project in Winterthur, for which the building permit was issued at the end of October.
Realstone is satisfied with the fund merger
Realstone is satisfied with the performance in the first half of the year. In addition to simplifying the product range, the merger of the two real estate funds Realstone Swiss Property and Realstone Development Fund has brought all the benefits that were expected after the first six months of the financial year: The new fund benefits from optimised management costs, greater geographical diversification in Switzerland's major conurbations and improved liquidity. The larger fund volume also allows for lower financing costs with better credit conditions.
The market value of the properties reportedly increased by 3.32% during the period, compared to the combined value of the two predecessor funds (2.23bn), to 2.3bn as at 30 September. Total assets of the Realstone RSF fund amount to 2.38bn.
The fund's leverage ratio is approximately 30% and the net asset value (NAV) per unit is CHF125.14 as of September 30 (compared to CHF121.89 as of September 30, 2020 for the acquiring fund RSP prior to the merger). The investment return amounts to 3.35%; the acquiring fund RSP had reported 1.50% in the previous year. The net half-year result is 20.72 million, and the rental income is 44.00 million. The rent default rate is put at 10.77%. Of this, 6.7 percentage points are attributable to the Axess Real Estate SA portfolio, with the balance of 4.07 % representing the portfolio's structural vacancy, according to Realstone. (ah)
