Warehouse REIT Buys Multi-Let UK Urban Warehouses in £116m Deal
5th February 2018
Warehouse REIT, the AIM-listed specialist warehouse investor, announces that it has exchanged unconditional contracts to acquire from Hansteen Holdings PLC its Industrial Multi Property Trust portfolio, comprising 51 assets, the majority being multi-let UK urban warehouses, for £116 million. The acquisition is in line with the Company’s strategy and concludes the successful deployment of all funds raised by the Company at IPO in September 2017, significantly ahead of plan, and brings the total property acquisitions to date to £279 million.
The 51 warehouse properties provide over 500 leasable units delivering a total floor area of approximately 1.65 million sq ft, the majority of which are located in the Midlands and South of England. Approximately 93% of the floor area is invested in light industrial property with the 7% balance representing other workspace and offices. The current contracted rent roll is c.£8.5 million per annum (current passing £8.26m) from 382 distinct tenants. The portfolio is being acquired with an occupancy rate of 92% at an average contracted rent of £5.66 psf and a WAULT of 3.9 years.
Complementing Warehouse REIT’s strategic focus, the assets are located in established commercial locations, close to urban centres, major motorways or trunk roads. Furthermore, in acquiring a portfolio located predominately in the Midlands and South, the Company’s overall portfolio is now more evenly spread across the UK with 29% in the Midlands, 29% in the South East, 27% in the North of England, 13% in Scotland and 2% in Wales.
The acquisition will be funded from existing cash resources and enlarged debt facilities of £135 million (previously £65 million), secured with HSBC.