F&C Commercial Property Trust (FCPT), a closed-ended property investment company with total assets of around GBP1bn, has successfully raised GBP15m in an issue of new shares.

FCPT invests directly in UK commercial property and is managed by Richard Kirby at F&C REIT Asset Management in London. Launched in 2005, it is the flagship direct property investment company offering of the F&C Group.

The high-quality investment portfolio and attractive level of dividend, which is paid monthly, has helped the Company’s shares trade at a premium over the past year. Demand for the shares has been strong both on the open market and through F&C’s range of investment trust savings schemes.

In November, the Board of FCPT announced its intention to use its authority to issue new shares. The new shares were placed via the company’s corporate brokers Winterflood Securities and began trading on the London Stock Exchange on 1 February. The shares were issued at 103.41p, a 3% premium to net asset value, and will be eligible for monthly dividends. The Company expects investors to continue to be attracted by the high regular income on offer (a yield of 5.8% based on the share price at the close on 1 February).

The money raised from the new share issue will enable Kirby and his team to identify further investment opportunities for the Company, following on from the successful recent acquisitions of a B&Q store in East Kilbride yielding around 7% and a distribution warehouse in Liverpool with an equivalent yield of over 8%.