UPDATE 1-Quintain launches $315 mln 3-for-1 share sale
* Shares for sale at 49 pence, reflecting 72 pct discount
* 3-for-1 offer fully underwritten
(Adds detail, background)
LONDON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Property company Quintain Estates & Development (QED.L) has launched a 191.2 million pounds ($315 million) share sale plan to bolster its finances and revive development plans put on ice during Britain's real estate slump.
Quintain, the company leading the regeneration of land surrounding the English national football stadium at Wembley and the Greenwich Peninsula in London's Docklands, has offered about 390 million shares at 49 pence each, a 72 percent discount to the closing price on Wednesday.
The issue has been fully underwritten by JPMorgan Securities on behalf of JPMorgan Cazenove, HSBC and Barclays Capital. JPMorgan Cazenove and Lazard are advising.
Quintain said the 183.5 million pounds net proceeds from the share sale would accelerate select activities in commercial and residential property development, and possibly fund equity participation in new opportunistic joint ventures.
Up to now, Quintain has looked to shore up its balance sheet by cutting overheads, selling assets, suspending its dividend and renegotiating borrowing terms with key lenders.
It abandoned an earlier equity raising plan in April after banks agreed to relax a debt-to-value covenant on medium- and long-term credit facilities that had edged close to breach following the hefty dive in UK commercial property prices. Continued...



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