Investment banking boutique Zeus Capital has acted as nominated adviser (NOMAD), joint broker and joint bookrunner to student accommodation construction specialist Watkin Jones Plc on its GBP255 million AIM IPO, including a GBP131 million fundraise.
The directors of Watkin Jones intend to pay an annual dividend equating to a yield of 6 per cent, calculated on the placing price.
This follows a buoyant 12 months for the firm, which has advised on a number of high profile transactions including the GBP1.2 billion reverse takeover and IPO of BCA Marketplace, the GBP200 million reverse takeover of Matthew Clark Limited by Conviviality Plc and the GBP240 million IPO of Purplebricks Group Plc.
Established in 1791, Watkin Jones was a ninth generation family owned business and one the oldest businesses in the UK. The company specialises in multi occupancy property assets and residential developments across the UK. Based in Bangor, the company has evolved into the UKs- leading developer of student property.
The business has experienced rapid growth since 1999, when it entered the large scale Purpose Build Student Accommodation (PBSA) market. Since then, Watkin Jones has delivered over 28,000 student beds over 88 sites, with an additional 11,300 beds across 31 developments to be completed by Q3 2018.
The business generated revenues from continuing operations of almost GBP250 million in the twelve months to September 2015, with profit from its continuing operations rising to GBP32.5 million in the same period.
Following its listing, Watkin Jones is looking to expand its business further into the private rented sector, whilst continuing to operate as the leading developer of student accommodation in the UK.
Completed in 12 weeks, the transaction sees the Watkin Jones family retain a significant stake post-IPO to benefit from future equity growth. Grenville Turner, former CEO and current Chairman of FTSE250 company Countrywide has joined the board as Non-exec Chairman. Current non-executive chairman of FlyBe and Assura, Simon Laffin, also joins as Independent Non-Executive Director.
Mark Watkin Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Watkin Jones, says: "The team has worked hard to establish our position as a leader in the UK student accommodation market, and it is this ability and ambition that will allow us to capitalise on the significant opportunities ahead.
“The PBSA market in particular has huge potential and is supported by a number of attractive market dynamics. We look forward to continuing to grow our business, providing an end to end solution for large scale accommodation projects as a publically quoted company.”
Tremayne Ducker headed the corporate finance team which consisted of Dan Bate, Nick Cowles, Richard Darlington, Jamie Peel and Alistair Donnelly, whilst Dominic King and Benjamin Robertson headed the sales and broking team advising the shareholders of Watkin Jones on the IPO.
Dan Bate, Director, Corporate Finance at Zeus Capital, says: “Watkin Jones has considerable potential as a public company, with a business model that provides an end to end solution for investors. Having demonstrated the enormous opportunities in the PBSA market since 1999, the company’s pipeline is looking strong for the coming years as it looks to grow its market share.
“The deal demonstrates that the appetite from institutional investors remains high for innovative listings, and we are confident that with the additions made to its management team, AIM represents the ideal home for Watkin Jones.”
