GI Partners' Portfolio Company Urban&Civic Completes Reverse Takeover of Terrace Hill Plc and Successful £170M LSE Capital Raise

LONDON, June 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

GI Partners ("GI"), a leading mid-market private equity firm, announced that Urban&Civic, a portfolio company, had completed its reversal into Terrace Hill Plc and the subsequent relisting on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.

GI Partners established Urban&Civic with the experienced management team of Nigel Hugill (Chairman) and Robin Butler (MD) in 2009. The company was set up to acquire strategic land sites in the UK and take these assets through the allocation and planning consent process to deliver large scale residential and employment led developments.

Urban&Civic's first acquisition was the 1,432 acre Alconbury Weald site near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, a former airfield which was acquired from the Ministry of Defence in 2009. In December 2013, Urban&Civic received a resolution to grant a planning consent for 5,000 homes and 3.1M sq ft of commercial space. The company's second significant asset is the 1,170 acre Sustainable Urban Expansion element of the Rugby Radio Station site, which is a 50:50 JV with Aviva. In January 2014 Urban&Civic received a resolution to grant a planning consent for 6,200 homes and 1.3M sq ft of commercial space. The two sites have a combined expected GDV of £2.7BN.  

Mark Tagliaferri, Managing Director GI Partners, and Non- Executive Director Urban&Civic Plc: "In 2009 we developed an investment thesis around investing in UK strategic land. In Nigel Hugill & Robin Butler we found a first class management team to execute this strategy and we have been delighted to support their planning successes at Alconbury Weald and Rugby Radio Station." 

In May 2014, Urban&Civic reversed into Terrace Hill Plc, the AIM listed UK property investment and development group to create a real estate company focused on large scale strategic residential holdings and commercial development opportunities across Central London and the UK's regions.  At the same time as the reversal, a £170 million placing was launched to fund the development of Alconbury Weald and Rugby, alongside other developments and acquisition opportunities. The enlarged Group is now listed on Main Market of the London Stock Exchange as Urban&Civic (UANC .L) and headed by Nigel Hugill, Executive Chairman, and Robin Butler, Managing Director. 

Mark Tagliaferri added: "The reverse takeover of Terrace Hill and £170M capital raise will give Urban&Civic the right long-term capital base to build out its existing assets while providing substantial firepower to fund the company's attractive pipeline of acquisition opportunities.  We look forward to continuing to support the team as a significant shareholder and are confident in management's ability to drive substantial further shareholder value."  

Nigel Hugill, Executive Chairman, commented: "The introduction of permanent capital and the preparedness of GI Partners to commit to maintain their entire holding in the enlarged Urban&Civic through a public listing is fully characteristic of the empathetic investment approach shown since founding the business together just over four years ago. The Terrace Hill acquisition was driven by a clear industrial logic, endorsed by Mark Tagliaferri and his colleagues from the outset. The subsequent positive stock market reaction certainly benefited from the unequivocal demonstration of that support."

For more information please visit http://www.urbanandcivic.com/home/.

About GI Partners 

Founded in 2001, GI Partners is a leading middle market private equity firm with offices in London, San Francisco, Chicago, and Greenwich. The firm currently manages over $10 billion of capital commitments through private equity and real estate separate account strategies for recognized institutional investors, including some of the largest state and sovereign pension funds in North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East. GI Partners is active in a number of key sectors, including IT Infrastructure & Services, Healthcare Services, Retail & Leisure, and Financial & Real Estate Services. For more information on GI Partners and its entire portfolio, please visit http://www.gipartners.com.

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