Acquisition

RNS Number : 5864L

London & Stamford Property Ltd

10 May 2010

 



LONDON & STAMFORD PROPERTY LIMITED

Registration No. 47816

Registered Office:

2ND FLOOR, REGENCY COURT, GLATEGNY ESPLANADE, ST. PETER PORT,

GUERNSEY, GY1 3NQ.

___________________________

TELEPHONE:  + 44 1481 720321

FACSIMILE:  + 44 1481 716117

EMAIL:  [e-mail]

10 May 2010

LONDON & STAMFORD PROPERTY LIMITED

Acquisition of the Radial Distribution Limited portfolio for £208.5m

London & Stamford Property Limited ("London & Stamford") (AIM: LSP), today announces that it has exchanged contracts with Warner Estate Joint Ventures Limited and Uberior Ventures Limited to acquire Radial Distribution Limited ("Radial") for £208.5m (excl. costs).

The Radial portfolio consists of 16 prime distribution warehouses totalling 3.4m sq ft (total site area of 165 acres), in prime locations across the UK. Of the 16 units, 13 are located in the Midlands and one in Scotland, the South East and the South West.

There are 13 tenants in total, including Tesco PLC, Travis Perkins plc, Eddie Stobart Limited, Kuhne & Nagel and Northrop Grumman.  The portfolio has a weighted average unexpired lease term of 6.23 years. The current passing rent of the portfolio is £17.36m per annum from 14 of the 16 units.   There are currently two vacant units and once fully let the portfolio is expected to produce an annual rental income of £18.91m, which equates to a property net initial yield of 8.75%.

The transaction will be financed out of existing cash resources and using the debt available under London & Stamford's existing £150m loan facility with Bank of Scotland.  This will generate an equity yield of 15.30% initially rising to 18.5% once full letting is achieved.

London & Stamford will hold a 94% interest in Radial, with Anglesea Capital holding the remaining 6%. Anglesea Capital is a distribution sector specialist and will work closely with LSI as asset manager of the portfolio.

M3 and Savills acted for both London & Stamford Property Limited and Anglesea Capital.

Raymond Mould, the Non-executive Chairman of London & Stamford Property, said: 

"We are delighted to have made this excellent acquisition for London & Stamford alongside its joint venture partner Anglesea Capital. The portfolio represents exceptional value and combines prime quality assets in prime locations, good tenant mix, secure income and an attractive cash on equity return."

Enquiries:
Kreab Gavin Anderson Richard Constant / James Benjamin / Anthony Hughes	Tel: [phone]
London & Stamford Property Limited Rochelle Thompson Butterfield Fulcrum Group (Guernsey) Limited, Company Secretary	Tel: [phone]
KBC Peel Hunt Capel Irwin / David Anderson / Nicholas Marren	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors

London & Stamford Property, a closed-ended investment company based in Guernsey, is advised by LSI Management LLP ("LSIM") which has a highly experienced management team. The principal partners of LSIM include Raymond Mould, Patrick Vaughan, Martin McGann, Jeremy Bishop and Stewart Little. Raymond Mould, Patrick Vaughan and Martin McGann are also non-executive directors of London & Stamford Property.

The Company was established on 1 October 2007 in order to exploit opportunities that it anticipated in the UK property cycles to invest principally in commercial property.

The Company raised £247.5 million (gross proceeds) through a placing in November 2007 when it was admitted to trading on AIM (LSP.L).

In October 2007, the Company entered into a five year revolving credit facility with Bank of Scotland for £150 million.  The facility is extendable by the Company for a further two years and carries a margin of 80 basis points over LIBOR.

The Company made no acquisitions during 2008, considering that market conditions did not offer sufficient value.  It made six new investments in 2009 using £190 million of equity.

In July 2009, the Company raised a further £225.8 million (gross proceeds) through a placing and open offer.

Further information on London & Stamford Property is available from the Company's website www.londonandstamford.com

Mayfair based Anglesea Capital was set up in June 2009 by Rhys Lewis, former principal and head of UK at Rockpoint (a US based Opportunity Fund operating from offices in the US, Frankfurt, London and Tokyo).  The formation of the joint venture to acquire Radial represents Anglesea Capital's second acquisition in the distribution warehousing sector following the June 2009 formation of a Joint Venture with Rockpoint, to acquire and asset manage a £260 million portfolio of UK distribution warehouses.

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