Winton Land confirms $350m capital raise for IPO, ready to list on NZX, ASX this Friday

Winton's Northlake project at Wanaka. Photo / supplied

NZX and ASX prospect and developer Winton Land has confirmed it has raised the amount it was seeking and is ready to list on both stock exchanges this Friday.

Winton, which aims to specialise in the retirement village sector by developing new villages in this country, raised about $350 million in new equity under its initial public offering for up to 90 million new shares at an issue price of $3.887 each, the company said today.

"As part of the Winton offer, Macquarie Asset Management has committed $200m through one of its real estate vehicles, further supported by a group of high-net-worth investors for in excess of $100m and the remainder through a chairman's list offer nominated by Winton that included a bookbuild with leading New Zealand and Australian institutional investors. The bookbuild, run jointly by Jarden Securities and Forsyth Barr, was significantly over subscribed," the company said.

Winton co-founder, Chris Meehan, said: "On behalf of the board, I wish to welcome all new Winton shareholders to the business. As we embark on a significant new chapter of growth and diversification, our transition to become a public company represents an important milestone. The support Winton has received from our local capital market has been humbling and energises us to execute on our growth strategy."

A Macquarie Asset Management rep will join Winton's board.

Winton will list on the main board of the NZX, and with a foreign-exempt listing on the ASX.

Its current development pipeline includes 7442 residential lots and dwellings, apartment units and retirement village units from existing projects, with $703m of gross pre-sales secured by mid-November.

About 78 per cent of the company's forecast gross revenue for FY22F and FY23F periods is pre-sold, and 78 per cent of development costs for FY22F and FY23F are currently under contract, the statement said.

Meehan said: "We have a fortress balance sheet and are well-positioned to continue to build the business, using strong cash reserves to capitalise on the growth opportunities that are in front of us."

Winton operates with a conservative capital structure, using minimal debt and some of the equity raised will be used to repay a project finance debt facility relating to one of Winton's developments.

Part of the offer proceeds will be used to fund offer costs.

Land acquisition, consenting, development, project, the housing market and sales and Covid-19 disruption risks were cited in the PDS.

Winton's ability to achieve forecast sales was depending on the housing market, it said.

The company is also exposed to the impact of Covid disruption and Government measures to attempt to control that, the PDS said.