Barratt Developments set to launch 500m rights issue
Housebuilder Barratt Development is expected to launch its £500m rights issue at the end of this month.
Insurer RSA, rival housebuilder Redrow and several others are thought to be readying themselves to bid for the stake.
The cash call is believed to be part of the group’s efforts to make further inroads into its £1.3bn debt burden and strengthen its position in the land buying market.
Barratt said in July it had cut its debt by £370m in the year to end of June. It has been gauging support from shareholders for the rights issue since the beginning of last month and is thought to have received positive noises from major shareholders including Pheonix Asset Management, Legal and General and Polaris.
Barratt’s rights issue would be the second-largest in the sector in recent months after Taylor Wimpey’s £510m fundraising in early June
Its is believed British companies will tap shareholders for an estimated £5bn over the next two months.