Underwriters hit as Kier £250m rights issue flops

Bank underwriters are facing heavy losses on Kier group’s £250m rights issue after just over a third of shares were taken up.

Shares were trading at 385p yesterday, below the 409p issue price leaving the syndicate of five lenders facing losses even after £14m fees are taken into account.

When Kier chief Haydn Mursell announced the fundraising expedition to pay down its £650m debt mountain, existing shareholders were offered the chance to buy its stocks at a 34% discount, but this was wiped out as shares plummetted on news.

Haydn Mursell, Kier chief executive, said: “Following the completion of the £250m rights issue, Kier enters 2019 with a strong balance sheet which puts us in an excellent competitive position.“

When the rights issue plan was unveiled last month, Kier said it had commitment for around 32% of the 64m shares to be taken up. This morning the firm revealed this had edged up to 38% of the issue.

Now underwriters have today to place shares with other institutional investors or be left with equity stakes in the business.

An analyst told the Enquirer: “This is clearly a set bank for Kier’s banks.

“It looks like the banks could be left holding a large chunk of shares in Kier for some time.

“Naturally this will put Kier’s management under more scrutiny going forward.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2018/12/20/underwriters-hit-as-kier-250m-rights-issue-flops/

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Rejigged 35-floor City of London tower plan approved

Developer Brookfield has gained revised planning for its 1 Leadenhall tower in the Square Mile.

The £400m tower designed by Ken Shuttleworth’s Make practice will rise to 35 floors making it slightly smaller than the Gherkin. It height has been trimmed by around 8m to 158m in height from the groundfloor.

The building at 1 Leadenhall will have 540,000 sq ft of office space, as well as 50,000 sq ft of shops and cafes on the ground, first and second floors. Also it will boast fourth floor public galley with views over Leadenhall Market.

The existing seven-storey building on the 1 Leadenhall site, known as Leadenhall Court will be demolished over a six month programme.

The 1 Leadenhall scheme will improve pedestrian routes around the site and into Leadenhall Market

 The scheme includes a free public terrace that overlooks Leadenhall Market

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2018/12/20/rejigged-35-floor-city-of-london-tower-plan-approved/

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Mace sells £84m Sheffield PRS and student scheme

Mace has sold its mixed-use residential and student development site in the centre of Sheffield before construction has got underway.

West Midlands developer, Cassidy Group, has bought the scheme, where demolition is being finished ahead of work starting in February.

The Hoyle Street site, which is within walking distance of the University of Sheffield, gained planning three months ago for 658 student beds and 247 flats.

Designed by Jefferson Sheard Architects, the 12-storey building complex plan also features an iconic grade II listed cementation furnace for steel making, the only one of its kind to survive undamaged in Britain.

Daniel Doncaster and Sons built the furnace in 1848 to produce steel through the cementation process.

David Grover, Mace’s Chief Operating Officer for Development, said: “This sale reflects the strength of the market in Sheffield – things are moving really quickly and there is clearly huge potential for further development and growth in the city.

“I am pleased that we have been able to sell the project to a British development company with a great track record of delivering similar schemes across the country. Mace is continuing to invest substantially in its wider pipeline of student, residential and mixed-use sites across the country.

Patric Cassidy, Director of the Cassidy Group, said:  “This £84m scheme is part of Cassidy Group’s current £650m UK development pipeline of projects spanning across 12 sites within seven cities, which will be delivering over the next two years working closely with our investment partners ‘Regency Project Management’ based in London.

“Cassidy Group are keen to acquire more student and PRS sites to create what will be a £1bn portfolio.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2018/12/20/mace-sells-84m-sheffield-prs-and-student-scheme/

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Nottingham council injects £50m to kickstart Broadmarsh scheme

Nottingham City Council has agreed on a £50m cash injection to allow the redevelopment of the Broadmarsh shopping centre finally to start.

The funding green light allowed shopping centre developer intu’s board to agree to go ahead, which now means contracts can be finalised.

Sir Robert McAlpine is preferred bidder for the £150m main shopping centre revamp with several contractors in the bidding to redevelop the adjacent car park site with a new central library and bus station.

The line-up of remaining bidders for the £50m project includes Bowmer & Kirkland and G F Tomlinson.

Approval to proceed with the shopping centre and car park redevelopments are essential parts of the Broadmarsh regeneration programme of the southern city centre, which will see £250m invested in the area and see works begin early next year.

Broadmarsh Regeneration plan

• Redevelop intu Broadmarsh into a modern retail and leisure destination
• Create a pedestrianised and pedestrian friendly area between intu Broadmarsh and Nottingham Station
• Provide a brand new bus station and car park
• Create a state of the art Central Library
• Transform Nottingham Castle into a world-class tourist destination
• Develop a new Nottingham College building.

The intu Broadmarsh and Car Park developments have been funded by significant private sector investment, grants and future income from these developments.

Councillor Jon Collins, Leader of the City Council, said: “This is the latest step in turning our proposals for the Broadmarsh area into reality, and approval means that subject to contracts being signed, works in the area can start very quickly and hopefully very soon.

“The City Council and our partners are investing heavily in this redevelopment, which is inspiring private sector investment around the area, at Unity Square, City Buildings and the Island Site to name a few, meaning there will be better opportunities for those who live and work here and more prosperity for local people.

“The money the council is investing in this is not council tax – we have secured external funding and loans, supported by increasing car parking, advertising and rental income so council services aren’t affected.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2018/12/20/nottingham-council-injects-50m-to-kickstart-broadmarsh-scheme/

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Holey graphene as Holy Grail alternative to silicon chips

Novel spintronics applications could stem from introducing holes into graphene to form triangular antidot lattices, granting the material new magnetic properties.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181219133252.htm

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Better security achieved with randomly generating biological encryption keys

Data breaches, hacked systems and hostage malware are frequently topics of evening news casts – including stories of department store, hospital, government and bank data leaking into unsavory hands – but now a team of engineers has an encryption key approach that is unclonable and not reverse-engineerable, protecting information even as computers become faster and nimbler.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181219142537.htm

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Researchers make liquid crystals do the twist

Researchers have for the first time measured an effect that was predicted more than 40 years ago, called the Casimir torque.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181219133227.htm

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