Warehouse REIT is buying Hansteen Holdings’ UK multi-let warehouse portfolio for £116m (€131.4m).
The newly listed specialist warehouse investor said it has agreed to acquire Hansteen’s Industrial Multi Property Trust portfolio, which comprises 51 assets.
The 51 warehouse properties provide over 500 leasable units delivering a total floor area of 1.65m sqft, the majority of which are located in the Midlands and South of England.
Around 93% of the floor area is invested in light industrial property with the 7% balance representing other workspace and offices.
The current contracted rent roll is £8.5m per annum from 382 distinct tenants. The portfolio is being acquired with an occupancy rate of 92%.
Warehouse REIT said the acquisition will be funded from existing cash resources and enlarged debt facilities of £135m, secured with HSBC.
Neil Kirton, the non-executive chairman of Warehouse REIT, said: “This acquisition provides us with a meaningful portfolio of good-quality and well-located assets that are perfectly aligned with Warehouse REIT’s investment strategy.”
Kirton said the acquisition also allows the company to deliver on its business plan ahead of target, ensuring that for the year ending March 2019 the company continues to expect to pay a dividend of 5.5p covered by earnings.
Warehouse REIT, which joined London’s junior investement market AIM last year, said it’s overall portfolio is now more evenly spread across the UK with 29% in the Midlands, 29% in the South East, 27% in the North of England, 13% in Scotland and 2% in Wales.
“With the IPO proceeds now fully deployed we will turn our focus to actively enhancing the value of assets under management, whilst continuing to review options to capitalise on our pipeline of further investment opportunities,” Kirton said.
Warehouse REIT’s total property acquisitions to date is £279m.
