Northern European Properties (NEPR) has reached a preliminary agreement to sell a portfolio of 14 properties in Sweden to Stockholm-based real estate company Kungsleden for EUR 322 mln. NEPR said the proceeds will be used to partially fund four acquisitions carried out in Russia last June. The transaction price reflected a yield of about 7.2%.

Northern European Properties (NEPR) has reached a preliminary agreement to sell a portfolio of 14 properties in Sweden to Stockholm-based real estate company Kungsleden for EUR 322 mln. NEPR said the proceeds will be used to partially fund four acquisitions carried out in Russia last June. The transaction price reflected a yield of about 7.2%.

NEPR said it will have to 'initially inject significantly more equity' than previously anticipated in the acquisitions of two office properties, a hotel property and a retail DIY store in St Petersburg 'in the light of current debt market conditions'. But NEPR said it will strive to refinance the assets when conditions in the debt markets have improved.

The board said it will also consider a share buy-back because of the current discount of the company's share price to its reported net asset value if and when additional sales are carried out and/or NEPR is able to refinance its portfolio.

The 445,000 m2 portfolio sold to Kungsleden consists of industrial, logistics and office properties mainly located in central and southern Sweden. The principal tenants are ABB Fastighet and Frigoscandia. The transaction is expected to complete within two weeks. Property adviser Catella acted for NEPR. In a separate deal, NEPR sold another property in Sweden to Dios & Kuylenstierna for about EUR 40 mln. NEPR said the gross rental income for the sold properties was approximately EUR 29.4 mln.

NEPR is listed on London's junior AIM market and focuses on the real estate sector in the Nordic and Baltic regions as well as Russia. Its property portfolio comprised 93 assets with total floor space of 1.9 million m2 at end-June this year. Property adviser Debenham Tie Leung valued the portfolio at the time at EUR 1.9 bn.

NEPR announced in June that it had acquired two office properties, a hotel and a retail DIY store in St Petersburg and two shopping centres in Kaliningrad and Murmansk for a total of EUR 231mln. At the same time, the company disposed of 11 properties in Sweden and Finland for a total consideration of EUR 232.7 mln.