Accretive long income acquisitions totalling £24M

RNS Number : 3313X

LXI REIT PLC

04 May 2021

 

4 May 2021

LXi REIT plc

(the "Company", the "Group" or " LXi REIT ")

ACCRETIVE LONG INCOME ACQUISITIONS TOTALLING £24 MILLION

Further to its acquisitions announcement of 28 March 2021, the Board of LXi REIT (ticker: LXI), the specialist inflation-protected long income REIT, is pleased to announce the acquisition of an Aldi foodstore and a Dobbies garden centre for a total cost of £24 million (the "Acquisitions").

The Acquisitions, which were acquired off-market, benefit from an accretive average net initial yield of 5.45% (net of acquisition costs), a long average unexpired lease term to first break of 29 years, are let to strong tenant covenants on sustainable, low rents, and 100% of the income is index-linked to RPI inflation through contractual rental uplifts.

Further acquisitions are expected to be announced shortly.

Dobbies garden centre, Gloucester

The Company has acquired an eight acre, 122,000 sq ft garden centre in Gloucester.  The property is let to Dobbies, the UK's largest garden centre operator and an existing tenant of the Company, with 35 years unexpired to first break and benefits from RPI rental uplifts, reviewed on an annual basis, with a collar of 1% pa and a cap of 4% pa.

The garden centre, which benefits from 236 car parking spaces, trades strongly and is well located adjacent to Junction 12 of the M5, just to the south of Gloucester.

The property also sells 3,000 items of Sainsbury's grocery and household products, under the terms of a joint venture between Dobbies and Sainsbury's, which has been rolled out recently across the Dobbies estate and is proving to be extremely successful.  

One of the key benefits of garden centres is their flexible planning consent, which permits the sale of a wide range of products, including food. Garden centres have been classified as essential retail and thus have continued to trade during the UK's last two national lockdowns.

Dobbies provide online connectivity through both home delivery and click & collect.

Aldi forward purchase, Glasgow

The Company has exchanged contracts on the forward purchase of a new 17,000 sq ft foodstore in Glasgow.  The property is pre-let to Aldi on a new lease with 16 years unexpired until first break. 

The rent will increase in line with RPI inflation on a five yearly basis, with a collar of 1% pa and a cap of 2.5% pa and the current rent equates to a low £14.80 per sq ft.

The property, which benefits from 120 car parking spaces, is well located in close proximity to Glasgow city centre, which is to the east, and lies immediately adjacent to Ibrox football stadium, and is surrounded by densely populated residential areas.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

LXI REIT Advisors Limited Simon Lee (Partner, Fund Manager) John White (Partner, Fund Manager)	Via Maitland/AMO
Peel Hunt LLP Luke Simpson/Liz Yong	020 7418 8900
Jefferies International Ed Matthews/Tom Yeadon	020 7029 8000
Maitland/AMO (Communications Adviser) James Benjamin	07747 113 930 [e-mail]

The Company's LEI is: 2138008YZGXOKAXQVI45

NOTES:

LXI REIT plc invests in UK commercial property assets let, or pre-let, on very long (typically 20 to 30 years to expiry or first break), inflation-linked leases to a wide range of strong tenant covenants across a diverse range of robust property sectors.

The Company may invest in fixed-price forward funded developments, provided they are pre-let to an acceptable tenant and full planning permission is in place. The Company will not undertake any direct development activity nor assume direct development risk.

The Company is targeting an annual dividend of 6.0 pence per ordinary share for the 12-months commencing 1 April 2021*.

The Company, a real estate investment trust ( " REIT " ) incorporated in England and Wales, is listed on the premium listing segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and was admitted to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange in February 2017.

The Company is a constituent of the FTSE 250, FTSE EPRA/NAREIT and MSCI indices.

Further information on the Company is available at www.lxireit.com

* These are guidance levels or targets only and not a profit forecast and there can be no assurance that they will be met.

 

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