Acquisition

RNS Number : 8131F

NewRiver Retail Limited

20 January 2010

 



NewRiver Retail Ltd

("NewRiver" or "the Company")

Acquisition of regional town shopping centre

NewRiver Retail Limited (AIM: NRR), the specialist value-creating retail property investment and asset management company, is pleased to announce that it has acquired the freehold interests  of The Deeping Centre, a district shopping centre located in the town of Market Deeping, near Peterborough. 

The investment is being acquired for £5.50 million using existing resources from Westgate Properties Anglia Limited, part of the Anglia Regional Co-operative Society Limited (ARCS) and reflects a net initial yield of 6.98 per cent and an equivalent yield of 8.01 per cent. 

The Deeping Centre is anchored by a 27,000 sq ft Co-operative food store and a petrol filling station, together with 11 further retail units. The Deeping Centre also provides the main car parking facilities for the town with 275 dedicated spaces.

The Co-operative has signed new 20 year leases for both the food store and the petrol filling  station, representing 76% of the total rental income, with the leaseback rent for the food store at £9.06 per sq ft. This provides both long term income security and strong prospects for increased rental growth. Other key retailers trading in The Deeping Centre include the National Co-op chemist, Scrivens opticians and S&D Bookmakers Ltd. 

Additionally NewRiver has purchased an adjoining strategic vacant site at one of the entrances to The Deeping Centre for £275,000.

Allan Lockhart, Director of NewRiver Capital Limited, the wholly-owned subsidiary and property manager, and adviser to NewRiver Retail, said:

"Located in an affluent catchment area, The Deeping Centre benefits from strong footfall generated by the Co-operative food store. The property offers excellent rental growth prospects given the low leaseback rent with the Co-operative food store and the rental indexation within the PFS lease. In addition there are opportunities to upgrade and develop the retail offering, both within The Deeping Centre and the adjacent vacant land, by increasing the retailing provision and improving the tenant mix and overall quality of the shopping experience. The investment is an opportunistic acquisition that fits exactly with our stated active asset management strategy."

The Company continues to actively pursue further acquisitions.

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For further information:

NewRiver Retail Ltd                                                              Tel: [phone]

Serena Tremlett

NewRiver Capital Ltd                                                            Tel: [phone]

Allan Lockhart    

Pelham Bell Pottinger                                                           Tel: [phone]

David Rydell / Rosanne Perry

BofA Merrill Lynch                                                                 Tel: [phone]

(Broker & Nominated Adviser)        

Marcus Jackson

Georgina Stewart

About NewRiver 

NewRiver Retail Limited is a specialist real estate investor and asset manager with a particular focus on the UK retail sector. NewRiver Retail is advised on property matters by its wholly-owned subsidiary, NewRiver Capital Limited, whose management team, led by David Lockhart, have more than 50 years combined experience in UK commercial property markets. The Company's activities include active and entrepreneurial asset management and risk controlled development, utilising both its own balance sheet and co-investment joint venture structures. It is NewRiver's intention to become one of the leading sector-focused value-creating property investment businesses operating in the UK retail sector. The Company was founded in 2009 and its shares were admitted to London's AIM and Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX) in September of the same year. 

For more information on NewRiver, please visit www.newriverretail.com and www.newrivercapital.co.uk

 

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