30 November 2016
THE UNITE GROUP PLC
("Unite Students", "Unite", the "Group", or the "Company")
RESULT OF GENERAL MEETING
Unite Students, the UK's leading manager and developer of student accommodation, confirms that at today's General Meeting a special resolution amending the Company's Articles of Association in relation to a future REIT conversion was duly approved.
Following this support from shareholders, the Company intends to complete its conversion to a REIT with effect from 1 January 2017.
The proxy results are detailed below.
Investor and Analyst Event - 1 December 2016
On 1 December 2016, Unite will be hosting an investor and analyst event at one of its most recently completed developments in London. The event will include an update on the sector, the Company's progress with its development pipeline and will focus on how Unite continues to grow value and drive earnings.
A presentation accompanying the event will be made available on the Company's website.
Proxy results
Special Resolution |
For |
% |
Against |
% |
Total ISC voted |
% ISC voted |
Votes Withheld |
To approve various amendments to the Company's Articles of Association required in connection with the proposed conversion to a REIT |
185,775,372 |
100.00 |
0 |
0.00 |
185,775,372 |
83.68 |
46,414 |
Notes
1. Where shareholders appointed the Chairman as their proxy with discretion as to voting, their votes were cast in favour of the resolution and their shares have been included in the "For" column.
2. A "Vote Withheld" is not a vote in law and is not counted in the calculation of "For" and "Against" a resolution.
3. Number of ordinary shares in issue ("ISC") at the date of the General Meeting: 222,013,075.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Unite Students Joe Lister, Chief Financial Officer Paul Richmond, Corporate Affairs Director
|
Tel: +44 117 302 7005 |
Bell Pottinger Victoria Geoghegan Nick Lambert Elizabeth Snow |
Tel: +44 203 772 2562 |
Notes to editors:
About Unite Students
Unite Students is the UK's largest and most established manager and developer of purpose-built student accommodation. It provides a home for around 50,000 students, in more than 140 properties, across 28 leading university cities in England and Scotland. Unite works in partnership with more than 60 Higher Education institutions and also lets rooms directly to students.
Unite's purpose is to provide a home to its culturally-diverse customers, offering them a strong foundation for academic and personal success. The accommodation is high quality, safe and close to university campuses, transport links and local amenities. Students live in ensuite study bedrooms with rents covering all bills, insurance, 24-hour security, fortnightly cleaning of communal kitchens and bathrooms and high speed Wi-Fi.
Founded in 1991 in Bristol, The Unite Group plc is a FTSE250 company, listed on the London Stock Exchange, employing more than 1,250 people. It pursues a sustainable growth strategy, designed to make the most of the resilient nature of the student accommodation sector. Unite is focused on maintaining its position as the leading provider of student accommodation in the UK, by having the best brand, operating the highest quality portfolio and maintaining the strongest capital structure in the sector. This is achieved with consistent investment in, and improvement to, the operating platform; highly selective development activity and asset management initiatives.
Unite is invested in and operates a small number of specialist funds and joint ventures with institutional investment partners, the largest of which is the £2 billion Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF).
Unite is the founder and major donor of the Unite Foundation. Since 2012 this has provided free student accommodation and financial support to 160 young people in the UK who lack family support.
For more information you can visit Unite's corporate websitewww.unite-group.co.uk, the student site www.unite-students.com or the Unite Foundation site www.unitefoundation.co.uk.