The European Science Park Group (ESPG), a real estate company specializing in science parks, reports further leasing successes. In addition, the management is registering a positive initial response to the current exchange offer for the 2018/2023 bond. The development illustrates that ESPG is in a position to efficiently seize the growth opportunities for science parks in Europe and that investors are increasingly using the exchange offer as an opportunity to accompany ESPG's growth course in the long term.
Letting successes illustrate the attractiveness of the Science Park portfolio
Leases and binding letters of intent have been signed in various properties since January 2023 for an area of around 17,600 square meters. This is about 13.9 percent of the space in the entire Science Park portfolio. This means that around one-third of the space vacant at the end of 2022 has been left.
The net annual rent from the new leases amounts to more than 2 million euros - an increase of about 19.5 percent compared to the rental income since the end of 2022. The focus of the leasing activities was on the areas of life science and innovative mobility concepts. For the leases that have not yet become binding, the company is still waiting for building or change of use permits.
“Our leasing successes have further consolidated ESPG's position as a sought-after partner for research and development companies. A good example is the company Alaxo, which we were able to win for our Science Park 'Blue Circle'. The company develops, produces and markets innovative nasal stents for healthy and natural nasal breathing. We expect to increase annual net rental income to around 13.1 million euros by the end of the year. This would further increase our growth momentum. In the period from January 2022 to March 2023, our rents already increased by 18.1 percent. For the period from March 2023 to December 2023, we expect further growth of around 21.1 percent.”
Markus Drews, CEO of ESPG AG
Exchange offer for 2018/2023 bonds well received
The exchange offer for the ESPG corporate bond 2018/2023 (ISIN DE000A2NBY22), which has been running since 12 June, has met with a positive initial response. The company has already received commitment and exercise declarations from bondholders for a nominal amount of more than 2 million euros.
Among others, the management and current as well as former shareholders have opted for the exchange. However, the company had to realize that the communication and delivery of the exchange documents, among others to investors from abroad, sometimes takes longer than expected and that time is also needed on the investor side to assess the offer. In this context, ESPG would like to point out that the current ESPG bond with ISIN DE000A2NBY22 is still partly listed under “Diok Real Estate” in the master data of the custodian banks.
“Our exchange offer was well received in a volatile market environment. The management and the shareholders have offered their bonds in full for exchange and have thus continued to express their confidence in ESPG. We are also in positive discussions with many other bond investors who have also indicated their approval.”
Ralf Nöcker, CEO of ESPG AG
The public exchange offer for holders of the 2018/2023 bond is expected to expire on 30 June 2023, while the new 2023/2026 bond will have a maturity of three years and will bear interest at 9.5 per cent per annum. Management will hold an investor call on Tuesday, 27 June 2023 at 3.00 p.m. with further information on the exchange offer.
Interested parties can register on the company's website: https://espg.space/investor_relations/corporate-bond/. Furthermore, a sample exchange order can be found there, which investors interested in the exchange can use to place the order with their custodian bank: https://espg.space/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Umtauschauftrag.pdf.