Barrick Gold Chairman invests in Secure Property Development & Investment

South Eastern European-focused property and investment company Secure Property Development & Investment- formerly AISI Realty Public Limited- has announced its intention to raise at least 16m dollars (approximately 10.1m pounds) to pursue acquisition targets.

In an update posted today, the company stated that it would undertake this via a placing of new ordinary shares of 0.01 euros each in the capital of the company to new and existing investors at 0.74 pounds per placing share.

Commitments to subscribe in the placing had been received from five institutional investors for $16m at the time that the trading update was published.

The placing price represents a premium of 15.6% to the closing price of the company's ordinary shares on January 23rd.

According to the company, the majority of the placing shares had been subscribed for by businessmen Peter Munk and Ned Goodman via Dundee Corporation, an independent publicly traded Canadian asset management company.

Munk is the Chairman and founder of mining company Barrick Gold. Goodman is President and Chief Executive Officer of Dundee Corporation.

The group stated that the placing represented Secure Property Development & Investment's first step towards the implementation of its strategic plan for growth.

It stated that it aims to increase its income generating capacity by enhancing its asset base through the acquisition of core income producing commercial properties.

It added that a number of potential investment opportunities had been identified and were under exclusive negotiations, the first of which could be funded with the placing proceeds.

Lambros Anagnostopoulos, Secure Property Development & Investment's Chief Executive Officer, commented: "To have received commitments for $16m of additional funds from a number of new investors, particularly such well-respected businessmen as Peter Munk and Ned Goodman, backing the company and its strategy, reflects extremely positively on our success in restructuring the company and gives a vote of confidence to our plans for future growth.

"The company is now strongly positioned to pursue both a number of exciting acquisition targets that we have already identified, and attract further investment. Our aim is to build on these successes, by continuing to grow the Company and create value for our shareholders."

MF