BizSpace management change

RNS Number : 0192D

Sirius Real Estate Limited

28 February 2022

 

SIRIUS REAL ESTATE LIMITED

(Incorporated in Guernsey)

Company Number: 46442

JSE Share Code: SRE

LSE (GBP) Share Code: SRE

LEI: 213800NURUF5W8QSK566

ISIN Code: ISIN GG00B1W3VF54

28 February 2022

Sirius Real Estate Limited

("Sirius Real Estate", "Sirius", the "Group" or the "Company")

BizSpace management change

Sirius Real Estate, the leading owner and operator of branded business and industrial parks providing conventional space and flexible workspace in Germany and the U.K, announces that, John Spencer, CEO of BizSpace, is stepping down from the business.

Andrew Coombs, Chief Executive Officer of the Group, will assume the role of interim CEO at BizSpace from 1 March 2022, until a permanent replacement has been appointed, while continuing to oversee the integration of the two businesses as Group CEO.

Having joined BizSpace in 2020, John helped grow the platform, while leading it through the COVID-19 pandemic. He was also integral to the process that led to the sale of the business to Sirius; a transaction which allowed the Company to enter the U.K. market at scale and with a portfolio which offers significant growth potential.

Andrew Coombs, Chief Executive Officer of Sirius Real Estate , commented: "John has played a key role in the leadership of BizSpace, especially during the pandemic. Following the successful sale of the business, John has decided the time is right for him to step down. I would like to thank him for his dedication to the business to date and for his help during our acquisition of BizSpace, while wishing him every possible success for the future.

"We have exciting plans to grow the BizSpace platform in the U.K and are in advanced stages of strengthening the existing senior team, bringing new skillsets that will help us achieve our goals." 

- ENDS -

For further information:

Sirius Real Estate

Andrew Coombs, CEO

[phone] 

FTI Consulting  (Financial PR)

Richard Sunderland / Claire Turvey / James McEwan / Talia Jessener

[phone]

[e-mail] 

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Sirius Real Estate

Sirius is a property company listed on the main market and premium segment of the London Stock Exchange and the main board of the JSE Limited.  It is a leading operator of branded business parks providing conventional space and flexible workspace in Germany and the UK. The Company's purpose is to create and manage optimal workspaces that empower small and medium-sized businesses to grow, evolve and thrive. Sirius seeks to unlock the potential of its people, its properties, and the communities in which it operates, so that together we can create sustainable impact, and long-term financial and social value.

The Company's core strategy is the acquisition of business parks at attractive yields, the integration of these business parks into its network of sites under the Company's own name as well as offering a range of branded products within those sites, and the reconfiguration and upgrade of existing and vacant space to appeal to the local market, through intensive asset management and investment. The Company's strategy aims to deliver attractive returns for shareholders by increasing rental income and improving cost recoveries and capital values, as well as by enhancing those returns through financing its assets on favourable terms. Once sites are mature and net income and values have been optimised, the Company may take the opportunity to refinance the sites to release capital for investment in new sites or consider the disposal of sites in order to recycle equity into assets which present greater opportunity for the asset management skills of the Company's team.

Sirius also has a venture with clients represented by AXA IM Alts. Titanium was originally formed in 2019 through the acquisition by AXA IM Alts, on behalf of its clients, from Sirius, of a 65% stake in five business parks across Germany. Sirius retained the remaining 35%. The venture has added significantly to its portfolio and continues to seek to grow primarily through the acquisition of larger stabilised business park assets and portfolios of assets with strong tenant profiles and occupancy. As well as its equity interest, Sirius acts as operator of the assets in the venture, on a fee basis. The strategy of the venture has been clearly defined so that the venture does not conflict with Sirius's existing business, which continues to focus on the acquisition of more opportunistic assets for its wholly owned portfolio, where it can capitalise on its asset management expertise to maximise utilisation of the space, grow occupancy and improve quality of the tenants.

In November 2021, Sirius Real Estate announced and completed the acquisition of BizSpace, a leading provider of regional flexible workspace in the UK. BizSpace offers light industrial, workshop, studio and out of town office units to a wide range of businesses across the UK and the acquisition therefore provided Sirius with a unique opportunity to enter, immediately and with scale, an under-served new market for Sirius through a one-step acquisition of an established platform. It provides the Group with a high-quality portfolio, offering significant organic growth potential in rental pricing in a UK market characterised by supply constraints. The BizSpace business is also highly complementary to Sirius' existing platform, allowing for meaningful operational and financial synergies to drive value creation for Sirius shareholders.

For more information, please visit: www.sirius-real-estate.com

Follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/siriusrealestate/

Follow us on Twitter at @SiriusRE

JSE Sponsor

PSG Capital

 

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