Glenstone unveils £56.3m hostile bid for Alternative Income REIT

Glenstone, the largest shareholder in Alternative Income REIT (AIRE), has made a £56.3m cash bid for the company, three weeks after making a public approach.

The 70p per share offer is 3.5p, or 5.3%, higher than its previous offer of 66.5p which the AIRE board rejected in November 2025. However, it is just 0.4% above AIRE’s 69.7p share price on 14 May before Glenstone confirmed its approach and 1.4% more than last night’s closing price of 69p.

Moreover, it is pitched at 17% below net asset value at 31 March compared to the 3% discount AEW UK REIT (AEWU) offered in its potential proposal which the board deemed fair value but did not proceed after talks broke down in April.

Glenstone, a £97m REIT listed on Guernsey’s International Stock Exchange (TISE), owns 24% of AIRE’s shares and Adam Smith, a Glenstone director who sits on AIRE’s board, holds 2.4%, giving it a total stake of 26.4%.

In addition, Glenstone has received a written indication of support from Hawksmoor Investment Management, holder of a 6.2% stake.

Glenstone said it was a long-standing shareholder of AIRE, having first bought shares in a tender offer in November 2020. In the light of AIRE’s performance and failure to grow since its flotation in 2017, Glenstone said it was “disappointed” that a transaction capable of delivering an exit for shareholders had yet to be achieved, despite a period of sector consolidation that has seen other sub-scale real estate investment trusts be sold or taken private.

It repeated its demand to know why talks with AEWU had broken down in April during the due diligence process.

Our view

James Carthew, head of investment company research, said: “Glenstone REIT has made its opening offer for Alternative Income REIT and it looks a bit mean, coming at a 17% discount to a NAV that has been edging up recently. The question is, will anyone else step into the fray?”