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Big Yellow raises £79m in share placing to purchase more storage
Big Yellow raised £79m via a share placing yesterday to help buy the remaining 67 per cent stake in a self-storage business it did not already own.
The company said it would use the proceeds to buy out its partner Pramerica Real Estate Investors from their joint venture earlier than planned for £39.25m in cash.
The joint venture, Big Yellow Limited Partnership, was set up in 2007 and included 12 self-storage sites in cities outside of London, including Leeds and Birmingham.
Separately, the group reported that pre-tax profits rose 29 per cent to £18.4m in the six months to 30 September, as demand for self-storage surged on the back of an improving economy.
It cheered investors by hiking its interim dividend by 30 per cent to 10.4p.