Wren Homes raises £4m

09/10/2008 Robert Tyerman

South London property company Wainford Holdings is putting £4 million into beleaguered retirement-oriented Wren Homes.

Peckham-based Wainford Holdings, owned by successful property dealing brother-and-sister team Dominic and Tiffany Wainford, is buying 19.3 per cent of bombed-out Wren at 10p a share for £1 million and putting £3million into a five-year convertible loan, which on conversion would take its Wren stake to 48 per cent. This injection of funds will allow AIM-quoted Wren, which lost £394,000 in the six months to January, to further its move into ‘extra care’ retirement homes development by launching its second such scheme at Crowborough, East Sussex.

Dominic Wainford, 40, who set up Wainford Holdings 11 years ago and sold the Tilt Estate company lucratively last year to landowning group Grainger, is to join the Wren board. Joining with him is Wren’s company secretary, James Butterfield, veteran entrepreneur and adviser and chairman of satellite tracking company Marinetrack Holdings.

Paul Treadaway, Wren’s chief executive, argues that this deal puts the company ‘in a strong position to capitalise on opportunities in our sector’. Wren shares, which collapsed from 75p in 2007 to a recent 7.5p, have perked up modestly to 9.75p, valuing the company at £4 million, and could make further progress if the Wainford deal bears fruit and stock market conditions allow.

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