David Lockhart, the former head of Halladale, is planning a return to the listed sector with a company that wants to buy shares in listed property funds.
Halladale is a director of Property Value Realisation Fund, which wants to list on AIM. The company had hoped to list in November and then, after a first delay, in December. Today it set a new date of the middle of January.
Property Value Realisation Fund will be an activist share investor, buying shares in property funds trading at a discount to their net asset value. ‘The board believes that realisation of value may be achieved through proactive engagement with portfolio companies to act as a spur for corporate development and change,’ it said, echoing the strategy of Laxey Partners.
It will target companies listed on the UK or Channel Island stock exchanges with a market value of less than £200m and a discount to NAV of more than 25%. It has not disclosed how much money it is seeking to raise via the flotation.
Property Value Realisation Fund would be externally managed by Spearpoint, which would appoint an investment committee consisting of Lockhart and others.
Lockhart, who founded Halladale in 1991, floated it on AIM in 2001 and then sold out to Australian group Stockland in 2007, left in September following the integration of the two companies.
