Another Reit bites the dust as PRS exits market 

PRS cancelled its shares this morning following the unanimous approval of shareholders, with the number of listed Reits almost halving since 2022.

Family rental home real estate investment trust (Reit) PRS (PRSR) has formally exited the market, with shares cancelled this morning following shareholder approval. 

After a prolonged bidding war during which PRSR held talks with 19 potential buyers – rejecting lowball offers from the likes of Long Harbour and KKR – the trust finally agreed to a £629m takeover by Waypoint Asset Management in September. 

This cleared the way for voluntary liquidation, which 99.9% of shareholders approved at a general meeting yesterday.  

The bulk of distributions is expected to be completed by March, with residual sums to be released before the year’s end. Liquidators have been named as Gareth Rutt Morris and Jonathan Dunn of FRP Advisory Trading. 

Following the vote, directors Geeta Nanda, Steffan Francis, Roderick MacRae, Robert Naylor and Christopher Mills resigned with immediate effect.

The wind-down was set in motion by an unexpected revolt back in August 2024, when a band of shareholders including Hardwood Capital successfully requisitioned a general meeting to topple its leadership. Complaints highlighted a more than 30% discount to net asset value.

But exits from the sector at large have become increasingly predictable as three years of persistent discounts and lively M&A activity have seen the number of listed real estate companies nearly half.

Of the 73 such companies on the London Stock Exchange in mid-2022, just 42 remained by mid-2025, according to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC).