Hansteen boosts stake in UK industrial fund

UK REIT Hansteen Holdings has acquired a 35.7% stake in Ashtenne Industrial Fund (AIF) for almost £104 mln (€143 mln).

The stake equates to £157 mln of UK industrial property at a yield of 8.3%. Hansteen, an investor in UK and Continental European industrial property, now holds a 76% in Ashtenne.

Hansteen has also signed heads of terms with AIF on a £27 mln pipeline of acquisitions in the UK.

The UK REIT further raised £40 mln in a share issue on Thursday to facilitate the acquisitions and 'other near-term opportunities'.

Ian Watson, joint CEO of Hansteen, said: 'The acquisition of these AIF units is an exceptional opportunity both in terms of scale and price in a very competitive UK market and also crystallises a £6 mln uplift. This acquisition and placing will be earnings and NAV accretive in the current financial year and beyond.'

Hansteen announced the acquisition and the share placing when it reported its half-year performance on Thursday. The company's IFRS pre-tax profit increased by 55.5% to £103.7 mln from £66.7 mln in the same period last year. EPRA NAV per share increased to 103p from 102p at December 2014.

Hansteen's attributable portfolio experienced valuation increases from end-December 2014 of 7.8%, with gains of 9.6% in Germany, 4.6% in the UK and 7% in the Benelux.

At end-June, the portfolio comprised 507 properties valued at £1.5 bn.