Vistry swoops in with £1.25bn bid for rival Countryside property M&A Housebuilders Vistry and Countryside are expected to push ahead with a £1.25bn merger, the boards of both companies said today. The cash and shares offer is based upon Vistry’s closing share price of 741p as of 2 September, and represents a more than nine per cent premium on Countryside’s closing price of 228p on the [...]
US Inclusive Capital considers bid for Countryside despite past rejections COUNTRYSIDE US investment adviser Inclusive Capital Partners (In-Cap) has announced it was considering another bid for Countryside even though its previous offers were rejected by the construction firm’s board. In-Cap said Countryside’s board prevented shareholders from making a lucrative deals after a 295p per share cash offer made by the San Francisco firm was axed on [...]
Leaseholder victory: Countryside to remove ground rent doubling terms after CMA action Countryside to remove ground rent doubling terms after CMA action Developer Countryside Properties has struck out terms meaning ground rents double every 10 to 15 years, after a watchdog’s instruction Leaseholders’ ground rents will stay at the amount charged when they first bought their home, following action by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The Big Four developer has voluntarily given formal commitment to removing [...]
Prince Charles warns small family farms must survive for an environmentally friendly future July 14, 2021 The Prince of Wales has called for small family-run firms to be at the heart of attempts to go green. In an essay for BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, the heir to the throne warned letting family-run farms go to the wall would break “the backbone of Britain’s rural communities,” and said the “heart will [...]
Finance boss at Countryside leaves housebuilder to head to rival Barratt June 29, 2021 Mike Scott has resigned from housebuilder Countryside in order to take up the role of chief financial officer (CFO) at UK rival Barratt Developments. Both UK housebuilders simultaneously announced the move this morning, which sees Scott end a seven-year stint at Countryside, in which he oversaw the group’s IPO in 2016 and acquisition of Westleigh [...]
Close to home: Demand for city centre offices drops as hybrid working picks up June 16, 2021 Suburban office markets outperformed city centres for the first time in ten years, with six out of nine major cities seeing a drop in workstation rates. Research published today found demand was driven by workers rejecting both working from home and returning to crowded cities. The shift to smaller towns was also influenced by companies [...]
UK housebuilder Countryside’s sales soar as property market booms May 13, 2021 UK housebuilder Countryside reported soaring sales and profit in the first half of the year as the housing market boomed following the lifting of Covid restrictions. The property developer said adjusted revenue was up 42 per cent in the six months ended 31 March, reaching £755m compared to £530.9m in the previous year. Adjusted operating [...]
CMA orders Taylor Wimpey and Countryside to remove ground rents in rental contracts March 19, 2021 The Competition and Markets Authority said this morning it has instructed homebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Countryside Properties to remove certain contract terms that require leaseholders to pay ground rents which double every decade. The CMA said these terms could affect the property rights of the firms’ customers. Moreover, “as this increase is built into contracts, it means [...]
Countryside chairman to step down following pressure from activist investor December 3, 2020 Countryside Properties chairman David Howell will step down from the board in 2021, a day after its third-largest investor called for his removal. Yesterday US-based shareholder Browning West said leadership changes at the housebuilder were “immediately required”, claiming the developer had “several significant deficiencies”. The pressure from Browning West followed previous letters to the board [...]