Italian REIT Beni Stabili has agreed to sell back two Imser assets to its occupier, Telecom Italia, as part of a larger restructuring of its €1.7 bn portfolio let to the telecoms operator.

Italian REIT Beni Stabili has agreed to sell back two Imser assets to its occupier, Telecom Italia, as part of a larger restructuring of its €1.7 bn portfolio let to the telecoms operator.

PropertyEU reported in March that Beni Stabili, a subsidiary of French Group Foncière des Régions, was considering a sale of some of the assets in the €1.7 bn so-called Imser portfolio after inking a successful refinancing last year.

The Imser package, which was sold and leased back by Telecom Italia in 2000, currently includes 158 assets leased through November 2021 for a total annual rent of €117 mln.

Beni Stabili has agreed to sell two assets for €126 mln while extending the lease on a further 149 properties in exchange for a €7.5 mln reduction of rental revenues.

After the signing of the new lease agreements, the weighted average lease break of the Imser portfolio (to the first expiry date) will be over 15 years compared to the previous 6.7 years.

In addition, the company has committed to invest €38 mln to reposition and redevelop some of the assets while pledging to support Telecom Italia in the upgrade of the office space

'After signing this agreement that further improves the long-term visibility on our real estate portfolio and that comes after the deep reshape of the capital structure of the company in 2014, Beni Stabili is now in the position to face the new Italian real estate cycle with an optimal competitive status, positioning itself at the top of the European market in terms of quality and visibility of its assets and of the related rental cash flows,' Beni Stabili said in a statement.

Beni Stabili owns over €4 bn of assets in Italy, with a large proportion represented by the ImSer portfolio consisting of assets let to Telecom Italia. The Italian REIT refinanced the €1.7 bn portfolio last year with €500 mln of new credit facilities from a pool of Italian and international banks as well as €150 mln of new equity. It is understood to be considering a sale of some of the assets this year.