Creo to raise €385m for properties in China

The Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett-backed China Real Estate Opportunities (Creo) is raising €385 million to fund a pipeline of property deals in Beijing and Shanghai.

The company is also understood to be planning to refloat on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) later this summer.

Creo is planning to spend €750 million on properties in Shanghai and Beijing, and is planning to raise about €385 million in equity from Irish and international financial institutions to help fund this. It is currently holding a roadshow in Dublin, but has also been in talks with banks and finance houses in the US, Britain, Europe and Asia.

It is understood that the company began talking to the institutions at the beginning of the month. Creo did not comment yesterday.

The company is set to complete its current fundraising round next month. Following that, it is likely to list on the AIM.

Real Estate Opportunities, the listed property investment vehicle in which Mr Ronan and Mr Barrett's Treasury Holdings holds a majority stake, owns 26 per cent of Creo.

Treasury Holdings will manage the properties on its behalf.

Creo's shareholders voted in February to shift its base to Jersey from Luxembourg, and cancelled the AIM listing which it had held since late 2005.

The move resulted from a conditional agreement by Creo to buy the Xidan Centrepoint shopping, office and hotel complex in central Beijing for €362 million from a subsidiary of China Metallurgical Construction.

As the AIM classed the deal a reverse takeover, Creo suspended its shares. Then, following a review, the board decided to switch its base to Jersey.

In order to do this, shareholders agreed to liquidate the Luxembourg company and transfer its assets to the Jersey vehicle. In return, the Jersey firm issued equity to the Luxembourg company's shareholders.

Following the shareholders' meeting that approved these changes, Creo chairman Ray Horney said the company would seek readmission to the AIM at some point this year.