Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • +44 (0)20 7454 5110
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
Return to PR Newswire homepage
  • News
  • Products
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All Public Company News
      • All Multimedia News
      • View All News Releases

      • Regulatory News

      • D/A/CH Regulatory News
      • UK Regulatory News
      • View All Regulatory News

  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads & Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking & Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film & Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers & Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalisation
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls & Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil & Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defence
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking & Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers & Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines & Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics & Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture & Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewellery
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film & Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks & Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels & Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Animal Welfare
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Economic News, Trends & Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • Labour & Union
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Public Safety
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Overview
  • Distribution
  • Paid Placement
  • Multichannel Amplification
  • Disclosure Services
  • SocialBoost
  • Rooms
    • MediaRoom
    • ESG Rooms
  • AI Tools
  • General Enquiries
  • Media Enquiries
  • Partnerships
  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PR Newswire UK provides press release distribution, targeting, monitoring, and marketing services
  • Send a Release
    • Phone

    • +44 (0)20 7454 5110 from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT

    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us

      +44 (0)20 7454 5110
      from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT

  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • News in Focus
    • Browse News Releases
    • Regulatory News
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
    • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • Overview
  • Distribution
  • Paid Placement
  • Multichannel Amplification
  • Disclosure Services
  • Cision Communications Cloud®
  • AI Tools
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • General Enquiries
  • Media Enquiries
  • Partnerships
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists

Cohen & Steers Calls for Waivers of Pre-emptive Rights in the U.K. and Continental Europe


News provided by

Cohen & Steers

08 Mar, 2011, 17:43 GMT

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX

NEW YORK, March 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

A new Cohen & Steers whitepaper makes the case for shareholders in the U.K. and Continental Europe to vote for waivers of pre-emptive rights, in order to promote broader access to equity capital for real estate companies.

Why Europe Must Open Access to Equity Markets: Executive Summary

In the midst of the financial crisis, Cohen & Steers first made the case that pre-emptive rights in the U.K. and Continental Europe were disadvantageous to shareholders of listed real estate companies (Financial Times, August 10, 2009). As one of the largest global investors in real estate securities, the Firm continues to advocate this position, two years into market recovery.

According to Joseph Harvey, President and CIO of Cohen & Steers, pre-emptive rights restrict the ability of a company to act quickly on investment opportunities and issue equity when share prices are attractive-two avenues for management to add value. These limitations, over the long term, can lead to poor capital allocation decisions and ultimately impair shareholder returns. By contrast, U.S. companies can raise equity from an authorized share base without pre-emptive rights, enabling managements to pursue acquisitions, mitigate financing risk and issue shares when valuations are more opportunistic.

In the new March 2011 whitepaper, Why Europe Must Open Access to Equity Markets, Mr. Harvey frames the benefits that could be realized through less restrictive pre-emptive rights policies. First, the ability to issue equity capital, free from pre-emptive rights, could lead to higher equity valuations for listed property companies in the U.K. and Continental Europe. More liberal policies could also engender a larger and healthier universe of these companies, while facilitating growth through the securitization of private real estate. According to Mr. Harvey, free access to equity markets could actually lower the cost of equity capital, the price tag of which has long been obscured by pre-emptive rights practices.

After outlining the new issuance practices of various regional markets, Mr. Harvey makes the case that shareholders vote in favor of equity issuance without pre-emptive rights. Supporting this position is Cohen & Steers research on long-term returns, which points to the significant outperformance of U.S. securities relative to European listed property companies and private market real estate indexes. In summary:

    
    -- Over the past 20 years, direct property indexes in the U.K. and U.S.
       achieved similar total-return performance. Yet listed U.S. REITS
       significantly outperformed the comparable direct property index, while 
       UK listed property companies underperformed.
    -- Over the recent bear market and recovery, U.S. REITS significantly
       outperformed U.K. listed real estate companies.
    -- U.K. listed real estate companies with pre-emptive rights consistently
       trade at lower valuations than U.S. companies with more liberal access 
       to equity markets.

The agenda of the Cohen & Steers whitepaper was made clear in an action plan to raise awareness of this issue. Excerpts include the following:

    
    -- Shareholders and industry analysts should lobby proxy voting firms and
       shareholder advocacy groups to change their voting policies on 
       pre-emptive rights.
    -- Recognizing that pre-emptive rights can be waived through a 
       shareholder vote, shareholders should:
           1. begin voting in favor of waiver proposals that allow meaningful 
              share issuances free from pre-emptive rights
           2. begin asking managements to propose issuances without 
              pre-emptive rights at their annual general meetings, and
           3. propose for annual general meetings, as large individual 
              shareholders or as groups, resolutions to permit issuances 
              without pre-emptive rights.
    -- Companies should educate their shareholders, advocacy groups and proxy
       voting firms that the real estate business is a special case and that 
       issuing equity without pre-emptive rights can benefit shareholder 
       value.
    -- Companies should prepare organizationally to implement these
       modifications.
    -- Regulators should consider liberalizing the prospectus registration
       process to be more like that of the U.S. shelf-registration system, 
       which allows real-time share issuance.

For each of these stakeholders, it is important to understand that the sophistication and efficiency of today's public markets do more to protect shareholders than do the outdated practice of pre-emptive rights. With respect to real estate, public markets can offer a solution to help de-lever the private property sector, as is currently taking place in the U.S. in a significant way. But in order for it to take place in Europe, real estate companies must gain better access to the public market, at a cheaper cost, without pre-emptive rights.

The whitepaper, Why Europe Must Open Access to Equity Markets is available at http://www.cohenandsteers.com. Mr. Harvey's views on pre-emptive rights practices are also discussed in a March 7, 2011 article published in the Financial Times.

Risks of investing in real estate securities: Investing in real estate securities are similar to those associated with direct investments in real estate, including falling property values due to increasing vacancies, declining rents resulting from economic, legal, tax, political or technical developments, lack of liquidity, limited diversification and sensitivity to certain economic factors such as interest rate changes and market recessions. No representation or warranty is made as to the efficacy of any particular strategy or fund or the actual returns that may be achieved.

This press release must be accompanied by the most recent applicable quarterly Cohen & Steers mutual fund fact sheet(s) if used in connection with the sale of mutual fund shares.

About Cohen & Steers

Cohen & Steers is a manager of portfolios specializing in U.S. and international real estate securities, large cap value stocks, listed infrastructure and utilities, and preferred securities. The company also manages alternative investment strategies such as hedged real estate securities portfolios and private real estate multimanager strategies for qualified investors. Headquartered in New York City, with offices in London, Brussels, Hong Kong and Seattle, Cohen & Steers serves individual and institutional investors through a broad range of investment vehicles.

Modal title

Contact PR Newswire

  • +44 (0)20 7454 5110
    from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT
  • General Enquiries
  • Media Enquiries
  • Partnerships

Products

  • Content Distribution
  • Multimedia Services
  • Disclosure Services
  • Cision Communications Cloud®

About

  • About PR Newswire
  • About Cision
  • Partnering Opportunities
  • Careers
  • Accessibility Statement
  • APAC
  • APAC - Simplified Chinese
  • APAC - Traditional Chinese
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Czech
  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Israel
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • Mexico
  • Middle East
  • Middle East - Arabic
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Russia
  • Slovakia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • United States
  • Vietnam

My Services

  • All News Releases
  • Customer Portal
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • Data Privacy

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via Privacy@cision.com 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact PR Newswire

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Customer Portal
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
+44 (0)20 7454 5110
from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Information Security Policy
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 PR Newswire Europe Limited. All Rights Reserved. A Cision company.