TIDM56TE
RNS Number : 7230S
Sovereign Housing Capital Plc
13 March 2023
Sovereign Housing Association Limited and Network Homes Limited
enter merger talks
The boards of Sovereign Housing Association Limited and Network
Homes Limited have agreed to enter into formal negotiations with a
view to joining together in a merger.
The decision was agreed by their respective boards on Thursday 9
March. The target date for the completion of the merger is 1
October 2023. The new organisation, Sovereign Network Group, will
be one of the largest housing associations in the UK, with over
82,000 homes across the South of England and in London.
Under the proposals, the new organisation will initially take
the form of a group structure with Sovereign being the parent
(renamed Sovereign Network Group) and Network Homes the subsidiary
(renamed Sovereign Network Homes), with a view to full amalgamation
happening in April 2025.
Sovereign Network Group will have an annual income of over
GBP830m in 2024-5 and will invest GBP9.2bn over the next ten years,
building 25,000 new homes - almost 4,000 more than current plans,
as well as regenerating estates and improving the quality of
existing homes. They have also pledged to establish a new Community
Foundation to invest GBP100m in communities over a ten-year
period.
The new organisation, Sovereign Network Group, will be one of
the largest housing associations in the UK, with over 82,000 homes
across the South of England and in London. Subject to a formal
appointment process, it is expected that Mark Washer, CEO at
Sovereign will become the Chief Executive and Helen Evans,
currently CEO of Network Homes, will become Deputy Chief Executive.
Sovereign Chair Paul Massara will become Chair of Sovereign Network
Group and interim Chair at Network Homes, Jon Gooding, will become
Deputy Chair. The partnership will be subject to registration by
the Financial Conduct Authority, which is currently expected to be
around September 2023.
The merger comes at a time when housing associations are facing
a challenging economic outlook with rising costs affecting their
supply chains and their rents capped by government. At the same
time, social housing tenants face high energy and food bills and
there is chronic shortage of affordable homes. According to their
business plan, together Sovereign and Network Homes will be
well-placed to weather the economic storms and to continue to
invest in building safety, technology to improve customer
experience and decarbonisation. The new organisation will be
committed to be Net Zero by 2050.
Sovereign Housing Association Limited is registered as a
charitable community benefit society under the Co-operative and
Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 with registered number 7561
and as a Registered Provider with the Social Housing Regulator with
registered number 4851.
Sovereign Housing Capital Plc (registered company number
06992513) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sovereign Housing
Association Limited.
Network Homes Limited is registered as a charitable community
benefit society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit
Societies Act 2014 with registered number 7326 and as a Registered
Provider with the Social Housing Regulator with registered number
4825.
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Graeme Gilbert, Treasury Director, Sovereign Housing Association
07392130856 Graeme.Gilbert@Sovereign.org.uk
Charles Pitt, Corporate Affairs Director, Sovereign Housing
Association
07887524378 Charles.Pitt@Sovereign.org.uk
Disclaimer The information contained herein (the "Trading
Update") has been prepared by Sovereign Housing Association Limited
(the "Parent") and its subsidiaries (the "Group"), including
Sovereign Advances Ltd, Sovereign Housing Capital PLC (the
"Issuers") and is for information purposes only.
The Trading Update should not be construed as an offer or
solicitation to buy or sell any securities issued by the Parent,
the Issuers or any other member of the Group, or any interest in
any such securities, and nothing herein should be construed as a
recommendation or advice to invest in any such securities.
Statements in the Trading Update, including those regarding
possible or assumed future or other performance of the Group as a
whole or any member of it, industry growth or other trend
projections may constitute forward-looking statements and as such
involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results,
performance or developments to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Accordingly, no assurance is given that such forward-looking
statements will prove to have been correct. They speak only as at
the date of the Trading Update and neither the Parent nor any other
member of the Group undertakes any obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future developments, occurrence of unanticipated
events or otherwise.
None of the Parent, any member of the Group or anyone else is
under any obligation to update or keep current the information
contained in the Trading Update. The information in the Trading
Update is subject to verification, does not purport to be
comprehensive, is provided as at the date of the Trading Update and
is subject to change without notice.
No reliance should be placed on the information or any
projections, targets, estimates or forecasts and nothing in the
Trading Update is or should be relied on as a promise or
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is intended to be an estimate or forecast. No representation or
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Parent, any other member of the Group or any of their respective
directors, officers, employees, advisers, agents or any other
persons as to the accuracy or validity of the information or
opinions contained in the Trading Update (and whether any
information has been omitted from the Trading Update). The Trading
Update does not constitute legal, tax, accounting or investment
advice.
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END
MSCGRGDXCDBDGXX
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