Vistry’s takeover of Countryside to be wrapped up next month

Vistry’s £1.2bn merger with Countryside is expected to officially complete in just under five weeks’ time.

The housebuilder has published a circular and prospectus outlining the expected timetable for the merger, which is expected to complete on 11 November.

Vistry also said that it still expects its adjusted profit before tax for the year to 31 December to be around £417m, despite the recent turmoil in the financial markets following last month’s mini-budget.

It said sales rates since 8 September, when it reported its half-year results, have remained stable with weekly average private sales per unit at 0.78, compared to 0.75 for the same period last year.

A prospectus on the purchase published on Friday also lists key risks to the business, including the potential impact of market instability.

It said: “The deterioration of the UK economy, brought about by uncertainty, loss of consumer confidence, increasing inflation, higher interest rates and higher energy prices, could lead to decreased affordability, reduced demand for housing and falling house prices.”

It also said “constraints on the availability of mortgage products, the exit of mortgage providers from the UK market as well as funding and higher costs of mortgage funding may adversely affect the home sales” of the group.