Aviva Investors ditches £200m trust float amid deal congestion

Britain’s biggest commercial landlord Aviva Investors has canned a £200 million property trust listing following a glut of stock-market debuts which left investors with a bout of indigestion.

The company blamed “insufficient demand” from retail investors and City fund managers for calling time on the float, chaired by former Grainger chief executive Andrew Cunningham.

Aviva was due to take a 20% stake with the rest from fund managers and 19 intermediary companies such as Hargreaves Lansdown selling shares to retail investors. Aviva Investors joins a number of other trusts who have been forced to scale back fundraising ambitions in recent months.

M7 Multi-Let REIT last month scrapped a £300 million London listing and K&C REIT was also forced to delay a £150 million fundraise.

Another trust, Tri-Pillar Infrastructure Fund, today delayed a £200 million fundraise blaming “market conditions”.

The Aviva Investors Secure Income REIT, as it was known, planned to invest in UK supermarkets, GP surgeries, university buildings and car showrooms but a record-breaking year for fundraising has left a dearth of investor cash for new REIT investments.

The company said it will consider reviving the plan at a later date.

The proposal had faced problems from the start after well-known property tycoon Nick Leslau, who oversees a rival property trust Secure Income REIT, raised concerns with Aviva and the Financial Conduct Authority about the two ventures sharing a similar name.

He told Sky News it would “confuse” investors but Aviva Investors said there was no intention to mislead or cause confusion.