The Edinburgh-based company may invest as much as another 100 million pounds ($142 million) in stocks, Andrew Jackson, head of property strategy, said in a Feb. 27 interview. Land Securities Group Plc, British Land Co. and Hammerson Plc plan to raise 2.1 billion pounds to avoid breaching loan agreements.
"We think rights offers will be the catalyst for a rally in the U.K.," said Jackson, who expects the advance to start by the end of June. "We will be putting the money in a number ofmarkets including the U.S., where we have been terribly underweight, and support some of the rights issues in the U.K."
Property has slumped 38 percent since reaching a record in June 2007 compared with a 77 percent plunge in the FTSE All-Share Real Estate Index, which peaked in January that year.
