Acquisition of Plymouth warehouse for £4.3 million

RNS Number : 5782Z

Warehouse REIT PLC

18 December 2017

 

18 December 2017

Warehouse REIT plc

(the 'Company' or 'Warehouse REIT')

Warehouse REIT acquires Plymouth warehouse for £4.3 million

Warehouse REIT, the specialist UK urban warehouse investor, announces that it has acquired a 66,000 sq ft warehouse in Plymouth, Devon, from a client of BMO Global Asset Management, for £4.3 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.4%.

Constructed in 1985, the well specified property sits on a 3.9 acre site within the established Parkway Industrial Estate. The entire warehouse is let on a 25 year lease, with over three years to expiry, at a low passing rent of just over £5 psf.  The tenant has subsequently fully sublet the space to two occupiers, an automotive preparation and storage firm and a global lubricant solutions provider, with the rent on the majority of the unit being sublet at c. £5.50 psf. The asset therefore offers good reversionary potential through negotiating a new head lease agreement, whilst the accessible location and its adjacency to higher value warehouse uses offers longer-term development opportunities.

The warehouse benefits from its close proximity to the A38, a major arterial route connecting Cornwall in the South West and Mansfield in the East Midlands, and is just one mile from Plymouth city centre. The Parkway Industrial Estate is home to a diverse range of occupiers from the retail, trade and logistics sector; leading UK retailer NEXT is due to open a Home and Garden store in 2018, which is expected to further improve the overall sites desirability.

Warehouse REIT were advised by BCMRE and the client of BMO Global Asset Management were advised by Alder King. Following this transaction, Warehouse REIT has invested over £145 million in its pipeline of warehouse assets following its admission to AIM in September 2017.

Neil Kirton, Non-Executive Chairman of Warehouse REIT, commented: 

"Occupier demand for good quality industrial premises that are close to major conurbations continues to grow, and we retain a strong level of confidence in the outlook for the UK urban warehouse sector for the foreseeable future, driven by strong underlying fundamentals.

"We have an identified pipeline of assets across the UK offering a combination of attractive income and capital growth, as we maintain our focus on building a market-leading portfolio of Tier 3 warehouses and delivering attractive returns to shareholders."

-ENDS-

Enquiries:

Warehouse REIT plc                                                                                                       via FTI Consulting

Tilstone Partners Limited Andrew Bird, Paul Makin	[phone]
G10 Capital Limited (part of the Lawson Conner Group), acting as AIFM Agnese Soldane, Gerhard Grueter	[phone]
Peel Hunt (Financial Adviser, Nominated Adviser and Broker) Capel Irwin, Edward Fox	[phone]
FTI Consulting (Financial PR & IR Adviser to the Company) Dido Laurimore, Ellie Sweeney, Richard Gotla	[phone]

Further information on Warehouse REIT is available on its website: http://www.warehousereitplc.co.uk

Notes to editors:             

Warehouse REIT announced the results of its IPO on 15 September, having raised gross proceeds of £150 million (£146.8 million net) to invest in a diversified portfolio of UK warehouse assets located in urban areas. Following this acquisition, the portfolio comprises 35 assets, totalling c. 2.4 million sq ft, located across England, Wales and Scotland and all in urban areas or on strategic infrastructure links.

Occupier demand for urban warehouse space is increasing as the structural growth in e-commerce has driven the rise in internet shopping and investment by retailers in the "last mile" delivery sector. The urban warehouse sector offers one of, if not the highest, initial yield of all UK property sectors.

The Company is an alternative investment fund ("AIF") for the purposes of the AIFM Directive and as such is required to have an investment manager who is duly authorised to undertake the role of an alternative investment fund manager. The Investment Manager is currently G10 Capital Limited, whose role will pass to Tilstone Partners Limited ("TPL"), on receipt of FCA approval. 

 

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