London & Stamford Properties has sold its portfolio of Belgian warehouse units in the first transaction since the company's EUR 408 mln flotation on the AIM junior market of London Stock Exchange last week. The sale to Belgian-based real estate investment trust Ascensio for just over EUR 30 mln leaves London & Stamford with a mixed warehouse and office portfolio in the UK worth EUR 78 mln.
London & Stamford Properties has sold its portfolio of Belgian warehouse units in the first transaction since the company's EUR 408 mln flotation on the AIM junior market of London Stock Exchange last week. The sale to Belgian-based real estate investment trust Ascensio for just over EUR 30 mln leaves London & Stamford with a mixed warehouse and office portfolio in the UK worth EUR 78 mln.
London & Stamford acquired the portfolio of 36 warehouses in Belgium in August 2006. The portfolio covers 28,000 m2 with a current annual rent of approximately £1.5 million. Tenants include Brantano, Krefel, Lidl and Carglass.
The proceeds will be used in part to repay existing debt and to further the company's strategy of investing in commercial property, including office, retail and distribution real estate assets, principally in the UK. The directors say they will also consider opportunities overseas where they consider 'the opportunity exists to extract above-average returns for shareholders'.
Raymond Mould, non-executive chairman, added: 'We constantly review the investment strategy of the company's portfolio and decided to dispose of these properties after some yield compression and following a period when the cost of capital has increased.'