Disposal of Cassini House for £145.5m

To    RNS
Date    9 September 2021
LEI Number    213800A2B1H4ULF3K397 
From    BMO Commercial Property Trust Limited
 

Property Sale

Disposal of Cassini House for £145.5m

BMO Commercial Property Trust Limited (LSE: BCPT) is pleased to announce the disposal of Cassini House located in St. James’, London. The property is a prime multi-let freehold office building and represents the second largest holding in the portfolio.

The Company has sold the property for a total consideration of £145.5million, reflecting a substantial increase of 11 per cent over the last external valuation of 30 June 2021 and 19 per cent over the year-end valuation of 31 December 2020. The disposal represents the culmination of a long-term business plan which involved a complete refurbishment, introduction of new tenants and re-gearing of leases.

This disposal is entirely consistent with the strategy of rebalancing the portfolio and the Company will carefully consider the use of the proceeds in the best interests of all shareholders. This includes further share buy-backs as well as property acquisitions and capital expenditure opportunities in the existing portfolio where planning consent has been achieved. The Company’s existing share buy-back programme is ongoing.

Richard Kirby, lead manager, commented:

“Following a competitive bidding process in which the Company received several high-quality proposals, we are pleased to achieve a strong net initial yield¹ of 3.2 per cent for this trophy property and crystallise significant value for the portfolio. This disposal will allow the Company to promptly recycle capital in a strong pipeline and adjust sector weightings. We look forward to providing a further update of the use of proceeds in due course.”
 

[1] Aggregate rent divided by valuation plus estimated purchaser's costs


All enquiries to:

Richard Kirby
BMO REP Asset Management plc
Tel: [phone]

Graeme Caton
Winterflood Securities Limited
Tel: [phone]