M7 Real Estate has bought a £156.9m (€174.6m) UK retail parks portfolio from RDI REIT
RDI, an income-focused UK real estate investment trust (REIT) said it has agreed to sell the six assets to the M7 Box+ II fund. The amount paid by M7 fund reflects a 3% discount to the 29 February values.
The London-listed REIT said the disposal is part of an ongoing plan to reposition the company’s portfolio and reflects a pro-forma reduction in the group’s overall retail exposure to 11.8% from 28.4% at the end of February, including the recently announced disposal of the Schloss Strassen Center in Berlin.
The assets sold, include the Banbury Cross Retail Park in Banbury, St David’s Retail Park in Bangor, Milton Road Retail Park in Edinburgh and Queens Drive Retail Park in Kilmarnock. The rest are the Priory Retail Park and The Arches assets in London.
RDI said the proceeds from the disposal will be used to reduce the revolving credit facility by approximately £100m, providing a significant reduction in leverage. The remaining £56.9m will be held as cash within the group.
Mike Watters, CEO at RDI, said: “Together with the disposal of Schloss Strassen Center in Berlin just last week, we have taken a substantial step forward in the implementation of our portfolio strategy in a very short space of time and against a challenging backdrop.
“In just 18 months since announcing our strategic review, we have undertaken around £330m of disposals and our teams working on these transactions deserve to be commended for markedly reducing our exposure to the retail sector.”
To read the digital edition of the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.
