Purchase of property

RNS Number : 2510X

Custodian REIT PLC

18 November 2014

 

18 November 2014

Custodian REIT plc

("Custodian REIT" or "the Company")

Purchase of Property

Custodian REIT (LSE: CREI), the UK property investment company, is pleased to announce a further property purchase, bringing the total funds invested following its initial placing and admission to the Official List on 26 March 2014 to £57.5 million. 

The Company has acquired a petrol filling station and convenience store site at Beechings Way, Gillingham, on the A289 dual-carriageway, which leads to the Medway tunnel.  The property is let to Somerfield Stores Limited (trading as the Co-operative) who have traded from the premises for the last eleven years.

The property is let on a 25 year lease expiring on 15 April 2028 with no breaks at a current rent of £268,500 per annum, reflecting a net initial yield of 8.32%. 

The purchase consideration of £3.05 million was funded from the Company's cash resources following a placing of shares in October 2014 which raised £25.0 million (before costs and expenses).  The Company has no debt and £3 million remaining cash to deploy from the placing monies raised.   

Commenting on the acquisition, Richard Shepherd-Cross, Managing Director of Custodian Capital Limited (the Company's external fund manager), said:

"We understand that 2013 was the first year since 1966 that the number of petrol filling stations in the UK has increased.  This fact, combined with the huge expansion in convenience retailing, makes a petrol filling station with a large forecourt and a busy convenience store a compelling acquisition."

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For further information:

Further information regarding the Company can be found at the Company's website www.custodianreit.com or please contact:

Custodian Capital Limited
Richard Shepherd-Cross / Nathan Imlach / Ian Mattioli	Tel: [phone]
	www.custodiancapital.com

Numis Securities Limited
Nathan Brown / Hugh Jonathan	Tel: [phone]
	www.numiscorp.com

Camarco
Ed Gascoigne-Pees	Tel: [phone]
	www.camarco.co.uk

Notes to Editors

Custodian REIT plc is a UK real estate investment trust ("REIT") listed on the London Stock Exchange.  The Company launched on 26 March 2014, acquiring a portfolio of £95 million of UK commercial property.  This was sourced from an existing portfolio of 48 properties held by clients of Mattioli Woods plc in a syndicated structure.  The diverse portfolio consisted of properties let to institutional grade tenants on long leases throughout the UK. 

The Company raised gross proceeds of £55m through an initial public offering and raised a further £25m via a subsequent placing.  It invests in a diversified portfolio of UK commercial properties to achieve its investment objective of providing shareholders with an attractive level of income together with the potential for capital growth through a closed-ended fund. 

The target portfolio is characterised by small lot sizes with individual property values of less than £7.5 million at acquisition. 

Custodian Capital Limited is the discretionary investment manager of the Company.

For more information visit www.custodianreit.com and www.custodiancapital.com. 

 

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