Coalfield to acquire remaining 75.1% of Harworth Estates

PROPERTY investment company Coalfield Resources has agreed to acquire the remaining 75.1% of Harworth Estates in a deal worth £150m.

The Sheffield-headquartered group currently holds a 24.9% shareholding in Rotherham-based Harworth Estates in which it takes an active investment management role.

Harworth Estates is one of the largest property and regeneration companies across the North of England and the Midlands, owning and managing 30,000 acres across 200 sites valued at around £283.7m and with net assets of around £247.3m as at June 30.

The remaining 75.1% is held by the board of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

The acquisition will be satisfied by the issue of new ordinary shares in Coalfield to the PPF and cash to be raised by an equity offering of new ordinary shares in Coalfield in the first quarter of 2015.

On completion of the acquisition, the company intends to change its name to Harworth Estates Group.

Due to the size and nature of the acquisition, it will be treated as a reverse takeover for the purposes of the UK Listing Authority’s Listing Rules and will be subject to approval by the company’s shareholders.

As a result, the company’s shares have been suspended from trading on the London Stock Exchange until the details of the acquisition are finalised and the required information is published, which is expected to happen in the the first quarter of 2015, or the acquisition is terminated.

Jonson Cox, chairman of Coalfield, said: “In the two years since our December 2012 solvent restructuring and separation from the mining businesses of UK Coal, we have made good progress in growing the asset value of HEL and delivering the management team’s five year plan.

“The proposed transaction will give a strong platform from which to grow HEL as a developer of brownfield property and to realise value for all its stakeholders. We look forward to continuing to work with the PPF to deliver the transaction.”