Kennedy-Wilson Holdings and Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate merge
The Kennedy-Wilson Board and the Independent Committee of Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate have announced merger plans to combine Kennedy-Wilson Holdings and Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate.
William McMorrow, chairman and CEO of KW, said in a statement, “This transaction represents one of the most significant milestones in our 40-year history. The combination will create a leading global real estate investment and asset management platform with enhanced diversification supported by the continuity of leadership with a strong, proven track record. The enterprise will benefit from greater scale and improved liquidity, which will enhance our ability to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders. The transaction significantly improves our recurring cash flow profile, and, as such, we are pleased to announce our intention to increase our first quarterly dividend by approximately 12 percent upon completing the transaction, which demonstrates our confidence in the combination and our long-term prospects.”
The board believes the merger will create a leading real estate investment and asset management platform with increased scale and liquidity, having a combined market capitalization of approximately $4 billion and an enterprise value of approximately $8.2 billion.
And it will create a global portfolio of more than 400 properties with an enhanced geographic mix and broad diversification across real estate sectors.
Also it will provide flexibility to allocate capital globally across asset classes and geographic markets with pro forma leverage of approximately 51 percent net debt to enterprise value, access to diverse, global equity and debt capital sources, and approximately $1.4 billion of pro forma liquidity (as of Dec. 31, 2016) to support growth.
