Irish groups buys Dutch offices for EUR 46 mln

Blackrock International Land has acquired a portfolio of six office buildings in the Netherlands for a total consideration of EUR 46.5 mln. The properties located in The Hague, Nijmegen, Tilburg and Maastricht comprise a total of 24,270 m².

The porfolio is more than 85% let and generates an annual rent, net of landlord's costs, of EUR 2.67 mln, giving a net initial yield of 5.75%. 'Assuming full occupancy and allowing for a standard indexation of rents, this yield is expected to rise to 7.5% by year five,' Blackrock International said.

Blackrock International Land was incorporated in 2006 to allow Irish-owned banana importer and fresh food specialist Fyffes to spin off its property portfolio. The latest purchase in the Netherlands takes Blackrock's total investment since listing in May 2006 to EUR 142 mln. It now has gross property assets of almost EUR 340 mln, an increase of more than 70%.

'This attractive office portfolio in the Netherlands, a location already well known to us, fits well into our existing asset base,' Blackrock chairman Carl McCann said. 'We continue to seek other opportunities to diversify geographically and to achieve an appropriate balance between our investment and development properties.'