LondonMetric and Schroders Reit boost takeover offer for Picton

10th Jul 2026 08:02

(Sharecast News) - LondonMetric Property and Schroders Real Estate Investment Trust have sweetened their takeover offer for Picton Property Income, it was confirmed on Friday.

Under the terms of the revised approach, Picton shareholders will receive 0.910 LondonMetric shares and 0.894 SReit shares for every Picton share they own. It increases the SReit exchange ratio from 0.881 per Picton share, while the LondonMetric ratio is left unchanged.

The revised offer implies a valuation of £397m for Picton, or 77p per share, up from 76.9p and £396m.

The non-binding indicative all-share offer was first announced in May, and first increased in June.

The revised offer is still less than the 77.5p that Picton was trading at in January, when the Reit put itself up for sale. However, despite that the board reaffirmed its support for the revised offer and said it remained minded to unanimously recommend it to shareholders should a firm offer be made by the consortium.

The final offer is dependent on the completion of due diligence and the provision of certain consents and waivers from Picton's lenders, however.

The update coincided with full-year results from SReit. Net asset value in the year to 31 March was £297.9m, or 60.9p per share, down modestly on the £301.4m and 61.1p per share reported a year previously. Earnings per share ticked down to 3.4p from 3.5p, while lower revaluation gains meant profits fell sharply, to £14.1m from £31.1m.

Outgoing chair Alastair Hughes said: "Despite current market uncertainty, the significant efforts by the board and manager over recent years mean the company is well positioned, with attractive earnings growth prospect underpinned by a sector leading balance sheet."

He added that the LondonMetric acquisition would be "earnings accretive, strengthen the balance sheet and deliver increased scale".

Hughes is due to step down at SReit's annual general meeting in September after nine years on the board, to be replaced by current senior independent director Priscilla Davies.