Proposed Creation of Sigma Sh

TR Property Investment Trust PLC 20 June 2007 This announcement and the information contained herein is not for publication, distribution or release in, or into, directly or indirectly, the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan. TR Property Investment Trust plc (the 'Company') Proposed creation of Sigma Shares 20 June 2007 On 24 April 2007 the Board announced that it was investigating the creation of a new class of Share concentrated on investment in smaller capitalised quoted property companies throughout Europe. These investigations have now been completed. Investment in the Company has offered a good proxy for the European real estate securities market. Over the five years to 31 March 2007 the Net Asset Value of the Company has grown from £342 million to £933 million and the NAV per Ordinary Share has risen from 78.1p to 290.8p. Over the same period the net dividend has risen from 1.65p to 4.10p per Ordinary Share. The Company's Shares are actively traded and offer good liquidity relative to other investment trusts. The Company has been an investor in medium sized and smaller quoted property companies over the last decade. However the size of the Company following its recent period of growth means that individual investments in property companies with smaller market capitalisations have a relatively modest influence on the overall performance of the entire portfolio. Of the current securities portfolio, roughly 74 per cent. is invested in companies with a market capitalisation exceeding £1 billion and the remaining 26 per cent. is invested in companies with a market capitalisation below this figure. The Board and the Manager consider that, given the size of the total assets of the Company, and the illiquid and low yielding nature of smaller real estate company equities, it is inappropriate to increase significantly the exposure of the existing portfolio to smaller real estate companies. They believe that such a move could reduce the liquidity of the Company's portfolio and reduce the Company's revenue and therefore its dividend paying capacity. However, the Board and the Manager believe that some Shareholders and other investors may be attracted to a new investment pool focused entirely on real estate companies with small market capitalisation and which will take advantage of the expertise of the Manager in this area. Accordingly, the Board has today announced the proposed creation of Sigma Shares, a new class of Shares dedicated to investment in predominantly Pan-European property companies with market capitalisations of less than £1 billion. Shareholders (other than Overseas Persons) may elect to convert a basic entitlement of 20 per cent. of their existing Ordinary Shares into the new Sigma Shares and certain investors will be offered the opportunity to subscribe for new Sigma Shares under a placing. Shareholders may elect to convert more than 20 per cent. of their existing Ordinary Shares into new Sigma Shares. However such elections will only be satisfied to the extent that other Shareholders have elected to convert less than 20 per cent. of their existing Ordinary Shares or the Placing is not subscribed in full. The election to convert existing Ordinary Shares to new Sigma Shares is entirely optional. If a Shareholder does not elect to convert any Ordinary Shares then he or she will be, in all material respects, in the same position as if the Transaction had not been implemented. In order to proceed with the creation of the Sigma Shares, it will be necessary for Shareholders to pass the Resolutions to be proposed at the Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on 24 July 2007 at 12:15 p.m. immediately following the AGM. The Board believes the creation of the new Sigma Shares is beneficial to the Company as a whole. Creation of the Sigma Shares Following implementation of the Transaction, the Company will have two classes of shares in issue: (existing) Ordinary Shares and (new) Sigma Shares. Each share class will be separately listed on the Official List and traded on the London Stock Exchange and each will have rights over a discrete pool of investments, the ''Ordinary Pool'' and the ''Sigma Pool'' respectively. This will give Shareholders a choice of investment style in the property securities sector through the Company. Both share classes will have the same benchmark (FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Europe Index in Sterling) but are likely to have different characteristics. Holders of existing Ordinary Shares will maintain materially the same investment exposure as if the Transaction had not been implemented (which includes, and is expected to continue to include, an exposure of approximately 26 per cent. to smaller European property companies). The Ordinary Pool will continue to hold direct property investments. The investment objective, investment policy, benchmark, management fee arrangements, dividend policy and Board composition for the Ordinary Shares will remain the same. The Manager will continue to manage the Ordinary Pool in accordance with the existing Management Agreement which will be amended to reflect the creation of Sigma Shares. The Ordinary Shares will continue to offer investors a good proxy for the European real estate securities market and a progressive dividend policy. There can however be no certainty that the dividend per Ordinary Share will be greater in respect of any financial period than in respect of the corresponding preceding period. The Sigma Pool will consist predominantly of Pan-European property companies with a market capitalisation of less than £1 billion. This will be a specialist investment in a small part of the property securities sector. The Sigma Pool will not include any direct property investments. Although the new Sigma Shares will have characteristics which the Directors believe will be attractive to investors, it will not be an appropriate investment for all existing holders of Ordinary Shares. In particular, the NAV per Sigma Share is likely to be subject to greater volatility than the NAV per Ordinary Share and the Sigma Shares are expected to pay a lower dividend (if any) than that payable on the Ordinary Shares due to the nature of the underlying investment portfolio. Benefits of the creation of the Sigma Shares Although investment in the new Sigma Shares will not be appropriate for all existing holders of Ordinary Shares, the Board believes that the creation of the Sigma Shares will have benefits for existing holders of Ordinary Shares, as well as investors in Sigma Shares: • As a result of the creation of the Sigma Shares the Manager will be recruiting additional resources with specialist knowledge in the smaller companies sector. It is expected that the increased focus on small capitalisation property stocks will create new investment opportunities that will be enjoyed by holders of Ordinary Shares and holders of the new Sigma Shares. • Conversion of some of the existing Ordinary Shares into Sigma Shares may reduce the current size of the Ordinary Pool which will offer increased flexibility for investment of the Ordinary Pool. • The Transaction gives Shareholders increased choice: Shareholders have an option to increase their exposure to a portfolio of smaller quoted property companies throughout Europe, if they wish to, by electing to convert some, or potentially all, of their Ordinary Shares into Sigma Shares. Shareholders may retain their existing position in all material respects by not electing to convert any of their Ordinary Shares and will not bear any of the costs of the Transaction. Such Shareholders will retain their existing exposure to a portfolio of international listed property securities and directly owned UK real estate without any amendment to the existing investment objective, investment policy, management fee and gearing strategy (i.e. as if the Transaction had not been implemented). • UK resident Shareholders converting Ordinary Shares to new Sigma Shares can do so (under current law) in a tax efficient manner without triggering a disposal for UK capital gains tax purposes; and no stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax will be payable on Conversion • Shareholders converting Ordinary Shares into Sigma Shares will do so at the underlying Net Asset Value of the Ordinary Pool less Conversion costs of 1.75 per cent. of the net assets attributable to the Ordinary Shares elected for Conversion. This may provide Shareholders with a one-off opportunity to make an investment reallocation decision without crystallising any difference between the price per Ordinary Share and the NAV per Ordinary Share if such difference exists at the time of Conversion. Conversion Holders of Ordinary Shares (other than Overseas Persons) will have a basic entitlement to convert 20 per cent. of their holding of existing Ordinary Shares as at 6 p.m. on 20 July 2007 (the record date) into Sigma Shares on the basis that Shareholders will receive two new Sigma Shares of 12.5 pence each for every one Ordinary Share converted. Conversion calculation will be based on the Net Asset Value of the Ordinary Pool as at the Calculation Date less the costs of Conversion. The costs of Conversion are equal to 1.75 per cent. of the net asset value attributable to the Ordinary Shares elected for Conversion. Therefore the total net asset value attributable to the two new Sigma Shares received for each converting Ordinary Share will be equal to the NAV per Ordinary Share as at the Calculation Date less an amount equal to 1.75 per cent. of the net asset value per Ordinary Share elected for Conversion. Shareholders will also be able to elect to convert additional Ordinary Shares in excess of the basic entitlement but such elections will only be satisfied on a pro rata basis to the extent that other Shareholders have elected to convert less than 20 per cent. of their Ordinary Shares or if the Placing is not subscribed in full. The Board recognises that some Shareholders will not wish to have an exposure to a specialist investment in a portfolio of smaller market capitalisation property stocks and has therefore sought to minimise the impact of the Transaction on those Shareholders who wish to remain exclusively in the Ordinary Share class. The option to convert is a ''one off'' event. It is not the Directors' intention to offer any future opportunities to convert Ordinary Shares into Sigma Shares or vice versa. Sigma Shares Investment objective To maximise Shareholders' total returns by investing predominantly in shares of property companies with a market capitalisation of less than £1 billion, on an international basis. Sigma Shares will have rights over the capital and revenue generated by the Sigma Pool. Investment policy The investment selection process will seek to identify well-managed smaller property companies, especially those with a focus on a particular type of real estate business. Generally, the Manager regards future growth and capital appreciation more highly than immediate initial yield or discount to asset value. The focus will be on companies with property assets located within the Pan-European geographical area, although investments are permitted on a global basis. The Sigma Pool will not include direct property investments. The Sigma Pool may invest in unlisted companies and pre-IPO opportunities although the Manager does not expect this to comprise a significant proportion of the Sigma Pool. Benchmark Index The benchmark index will be the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Europe Index expressed in Sterling. This index, which is calculated by FTSE, is free float based and as at 1 May 2007 had 101 constituent companies. Size of the Sigma Share class The Manager has identified 591 real estate stocks in Greater Europe including Russia, the CIS States, Turkey and Israel (which the Manager refers to as '' Eurovision Europe'') with individual market capitalisations of less than £1 billion. The Manager considers this to be the current quoted ''small cap'' investment universe for the Sigma Pool. As at 1 May 2007, the total market capitalisation of these stocks was £97 billion. In order to be selective in this marketplace where holdings can be very thinly traded and illiquid, and to ensure that the impact of the performance of small investment holdings is not excessively diluted, the Manager will limit the Net Asset Value of the Sigma Pool to a maximum of £250 million at launch. Borrowing restrictions The Company's ability to borrow funds is limited to an amount equal to 40 per cent. of the Net Asset Value of the Company, in accordance with the terms of the Company's borrowing facility. The Board's current intention is that overall gearing in respect of the Sigma Pool will be less than 15 per cent. over the short term, consistent with the Company's existing policy. Portfolio The initial Sigma Pool will represent a pro rata share of listed equities in the Company at the time of Conversion plus cash raised in the Placing and will exclude direct property investments. Assuming the Net Asset Value of the Sigma Pool is £250 million at launch and existing Shareholders elect to convert their full basic entitlement, the allocation of the initial Sigma Pool (based on 15 June 2007 valuations) will be approximately: UK quoted property companies 41.2% European quoted property companies 29.5% Cash 29.3% 100.0% As approximately 74 per cent. of the initial equity holdings will be in companies with market capitalisations of more than £1 billion, the Sigma Pool will be repositioned over time. It is currently expected that, subject to market conditions, the Sigma Pool will be substantially invested in companies in accordance with its investment objective within three months of the date of Conversion. The cash element of the initial Sigma Pool raised through the Placing will, subject to market conditions, be substantially invested within six weeks of the date of Conversion. Dividend policy The Sigma Shares are expected to have a lower dividend yield than the Ordinary Shares. In addition, the dividend yield of the Sigma Shares may have an increased volatility because the underlying investments in the Sigma Pool will be focused on companies with smaller market capitalisations which are likely to comprise development companies and less mature companies with lower or no dividend yields. Currency The base currency of the Sigma Shares will be sterling; however the Sigma Pool will hold some investments in currencies other than sterling, predominantly Euros. The Sigma Shares will be exposed to the movements in these currencies although they may be hedged into sterling from time to time at the Manager's discretion. The benchmark reflects un-hedged exposure to these currencies. Management The Sigma Pool will be managed by Thames River Capital LLP using predominantly the same team that has managed the Company for over 10 years. Chris Turner, will continue to act as lead manager on the Ordinary Pool and will take an active role in the management of the Sigma Pool; however the lead Fund Manager for the Sigma Pool will be Marcus Phayre-Mudge. Marcus is currently Deputy Fund Manager of the Company. Management fee and performance fee The Company has entered into the Management Agreement with the Manager under which the Manager is responsible for managing the assets of the Company on a discretionary basis, subject to the overall supervision of the Directors. The Management Agreement has been amended, with effect from completion of the Transaction, to reflect the creation of the Sigma Shares, apportion the management fee and performance fee for the current period between the Ordinary Pool and the Sigma Pool and to make various consequential changes but will remain unchanged in commercial terms. The Management Agreement will govern the Manager's role as manager to the Ordinary Pool. The Company has also entered into, subject to completion of the Transaction, a new Sigma Management Agreement in relation to the Sigma Pool which will become effective from Admission. The terms of this agreement are based on the Management Agreement in respect of the Ordinary Pool with the following principal differences: • the Manager will be entitled to a base management fee of 1.10 per cent. per annum based on the Net Asset Value of the Sigma Pool, payable quarterly in advance; • a performance fee will become payable each year if the total return on Adjusted net assets attributable to holders of Sigma Shares has out-performed the total return of the Company's benchmark plus 2 per cent. (the ''hurdle rate''). Any out-performance (expressed as a percentage) is the ''percentage out-performance''. Any fee payable is the amount equivalent to the Adjusted net assets attributable to holders of Sigma Shares at 31 March each year, multiplied by the percentage out-performance, multiplied by 20 per cent.; and • the performance fee payable in any year will be capped at 5 per cent. of the Adjusted net assets attributable to holders of Sigma Shares. However, if performance in excess of the hurdle has been achieved but the Adjusted net assets attributable to holders of Sigma Shares are lower at the end of the period than at the beginning, then the performance fee is capped at 1 per cent. of the Adjusted net assets attributable to holders of Sigma Shares. Like the arrangements in respect of the Ordinary Pool, the Sigma Management Agreement includes a mechanism for carrying forward any performance in excess of the cap and any underperformance in any period to subsequent periods. Placing As at 15 June 2007 (the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document), the total net asset value attributable to the Sigma Shares arising under the Conversion (calculated on the basis that each Shareholder will take up the basic entitlement), would have been approximately £170 million. Certain investors will be invited to subscribe for Sigma Shares under the Placing to raise additional funds so as to increase the Net Asset Value of the Sigma Pool to up to £250 million. On this basis, the Placing would raise net proceeds of up to £80 million. As a result of the Placing, the Sigma Pool may initially contain up to £80 million of cash. It is anticipated that, subject to market conditions, the cash will be substantially invested within six weeks following completion of the Transaction in accordance with the investment objectives and policies applicable to the Sigma Shares. New Sigma Shares will be issued under the Placing at the pro forma NAV per Sigma Share as at the Calculation Date, plus 1.75 per cent. attributable to the costs of the Placing. The Sigma Shares issued under the Placing will not be made generally available or marketed to the public in the UK. If the Net Asset Value of the Sigma Pool immediately following the Conversion (assuming full satisfaction of the basic entitlement) and Placing, would otherwise exceed £250 million, then commitments under the Placing will be scaled back and the basis of allocation will be agreed by Winterflood Securities and Cenkos Securities and the Company, such that the Net Asset Value of the Sigma Pool equals £250 million. Conditions The creation of Sigma Shares is conditional on (i) approval by holders of Ordinary Shares of the first Resolution to be proposed at the EGM; (ii) sufficient elections under the Conversion and commitments under the Placing being received such that, on Admission, the Net Asset Value of the Sigma Pool would be in excess of £75 million; and (iii) Admission. The Board may, with the agreement of the Placing Agents, waive condition (ii) in whole or part. Expected Timetable 2007 Latest time for receipt of Conversion Forms 3 p.m. on 20 July Record date for the purposes of Conversions and Company's register 6 p.m. on 20 July of members closes Calculation Date Close of business on 20 July Latest time for receipt of forms of proxy 12.15 p.m. on 22 July Extraordinary General Meeting 12.15 p.m. on 24 July Announcement of results of EGM and details of the Net Asset Value 24 July of the Ordinary Pool on the Calculation Date Dealings commence in Income Shares and Growth Shares 8 a.m. on 25 July Sigma Shares in uncertificated form credited to CREST accounts 8 a.m. on 25 July Certificates despatched in respect of Income Shares and Growth Week commencing 30 July Shares in certificated form Terms used in this announcement shall, unless the context otherwise requires, bear the meaning given to them in the Circular and Prospectus issued by TR Property Investment Trust plc both dated 20 June 2007. Copies of the Circular, Prospectus and Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2007 have been submitted to the UK Listing Authority and will shortly be available for inspection at the UK Listing Authority's Document Viewing Facility which is situated at: Financial Services Authority 25 The North Colonnade Canary Wharf London E14 5HS Tel. no. 020 7066 1000 This announcement and the information contained herein is not for publication, distribution or release in, or into, directly or indirectly, the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan and does not constitute, or form part of, an offer of securities for sale in or into the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan. The Sigma Shares referred to in this announcement have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 'Securities Act') and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to the account or benefit of US Persons (as defined in Regulation S of the U.S. Securities Act). The Sigma Shares are being offered and sold outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S of the U.S. Securities Act. The Company will not be registered under the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and investors will not be entitled to the benefits of that Act. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or buy, nor shall there be any sale of, any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful or would impose any unfulfilled registration, publication or approval requirements on the Company, Winterflood Securities Limited or Cenkos Securities plc. The contents of this announcement include statements that are, or may be deemed to be 'forward looking statements'. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms ' believes', 'estimates', 'anticipates', 'expects', 'intends', 'may', 'will' or ' should'. They include the statements regarding the target aggregate dividend. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. The Company's actual results and performance may differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements. The Company undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, except as may be required by applicable law and regulation (including the Listing Rules). No statement in this announcement is intended to be a profit forecast. Enquiries Chris Turner/Jo Elliott 020 7360 1332/1334 Thames River Capital LLP David Benda/Jane Lewis 020 3100 0291/ 0295 Winterflood Investment Trusts Will Rogers/ Charlie Ricketts 020 7397 1920 Cenkos Securities plc This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange MSCDBLFLDQBFBBX
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