The capital increase for the Baloise Swiss Property Fund carried out from 10 August to 19 August 2021 generated a great deal of interest among investors and was considerably oversubscribed. 

The new units were issued on a best-effort basis as part of a rights offering in Switzerland. No pre-emption rights were traded during the subscription period. With a subscription ratio of nineteen to five (nineteen pre-emption rights entitled the holder to buy five new shares), 1,240,601 new shares were subscribed at an issue price of CHF 110.70 net per share during the subscription period. The new shares will be paid up on 1 September 2021 and there will then be 5,954,886 shares in issue.

The rights issue generated total proceeds of around CHF 135 million. The fund management company will use the proceeds to purchase a portfolio of 17 properties with a market value of CHF 185 million from Basler Insurance Ltd. and Basler Life Ltd., both based in Basel. It also intends to borrow a further CHF 50 million by way of a mortgage to help finance the portfolio purchase. The Baloise Swiss Property Fund will then have 73 properties with a market value of around CHF 804 million (based on figures provided by independent valuation experts as at 31 March 2021).

The fund management company intends to continue adding to the Baloise Swiss Property Fund real estate portfolio, maintaining the emphasis on residential properties. The investment focus will remain on real estate in the towns and cities of the fast-growing economic regions and their catchment areas, which offer stable, long-term rental income. At the same time, the fund management company is further optimising the portfolio by realising local rental income potential with value-adding refurbishments and re-lettings.

The fund management company is also planning to open up the Baloise Swiss Property Fund to non-qualified investors and to list it on the SIX Swiss Exchange. In preparation, on 5 July 2021 the fund management company filed an application with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) to expand the investor base to include non-qualified investors with the relevant fund contract amendments (opening to the public). Subject to approval of the relevant fund contract amendments by FINMA, the fund management company plans to apply for the Baloise Swiss Property Fund to be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in September/October 2021.

The real estate fund described in this press release is intended exclusively for qualified investors within the meaning of Art. 10 (3) and (3ter) of the Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA). Full details of the aforementioned real estate fund are contained in the latest annual report and the documents that form the basis of a potential investment. These documents can be requested free of charge from the fund management company (Baloise Asset Management AG, Aeschengraben 21, 4051 Basel, Switzerland), or from the custodian bank (UBS Switzerland AG, Bahnhofstrasse 45, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland).