REG - AEW UK REIT PLC - Acquisition of a high-yielding leisure park

Aew UK ReitAnnouncement

Tue 07:00

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RNS Number : 0925M  AEW UK REIT PLC  10 June 2025

10(th) June 2025

 

AEW UK REIT plc

 

Acquisition of a high-yielding leisure park

 

AEW UK REIT plc (LSE: AEWU) ("AEWU" or the "Company") is pleased to announce
that it has purchased Freemans Leisure Park (the "Property"), an 8.4-acre
freehold site in the centre of Leicester, for £11,150,000. The purchase
price reflects an attractive net initial yield of 10.6% and a capital value of
£103 per sq. ft.

 

The Property occupies a prominent position on an arterial route one mile south
of Leicester city centre, close to the University of Leicester's student
campus, and totals 108,771 sq. ft. across five units along with service yards
and 582 car parking spaces.

The Property is fully let to a well-known group of national tenants including
Odeon Cinemas Ltd, Mecca Bingo Ltd, Spirit Pub Company Ltd and Nando's
Chickenland Ltd, providing a weighted average unexpired lease term to expiry
of greater than eight years. The Property presents various short-to-medium
term asset management opportunities, including rental growth prospects through
upcoming rent reviews; the possibility of an EV charging letting; and
appraising alternative uses, such as hotel and restaurant, for areas of the
site that have not already been developed.

Leicester benefits from high levels of footfall as the largest city in the
East Midlands with one of the fastest growing populations in the UK. The city
is served by rail connections to London, Birmingham and Nottingham, and is
situated at the midpoint between London and Leeds on the M1 motorway.

The acquisition completes the Company's redeployment of sale proceeds from the
disposal of Central Six Retail Park in Coventry. In seeking to deploy these
proceeds, the Company has also identified a pipeline of attractively priced
potential investments available for purchase in the current market.

Commenting on the purchase, Laura Elkin, Portfolio Manager of AEW UK REIT
said: "We are very pleased to have completed this acquisition which returns
the Company to a fully invested position. Freemans Leisure Park offers an
accretive income profile, as well as being defensively priced relative to
surrounding alternative-use land values. We continue to actively monitor a
pipeline of investments and remain optimistic about the attractive
opportunities for investment in the current market."

 

 

ENDS

 

 AEW UK
 Laura Elkin                        Laura.elkin@eu.aew.com (mailto:Laura.elkin@eu.aew.com)
 Henry Butt                         henry.butt@eu.aew.com (mailto:henry.butt@eu.aew.com)
 AEW Investor Relations             investor_relations@eu.aew.com

 Company Secretary
 MUFG Corporate Governance Limited  aewu.cosec@cm.mpms.mufg.com

 Cardew Group                       AEW@cardewgroup.com (mailto:AEW@cardewgroup.com)

 Tania Wild                         +44 (0) 7425 536 903

 Henry Crane                        +44 (0) 7918 207 157

 Panmure Liberum
 Darren Vickers                     +44 (0) 20 3100 2222

 

Notes to Editors

About AEW UK REIT

AEW UK REIT plc (LSE: AEWU) aims to deliver an attractive total return to
shareholders by investing predominantly in smaller commercial properties
(typically less than £15 million), on shorter occupational leases in strong
commercial locations across the United Kingdom. The Company is currently
invested in office, retail, industrial and leisure assets, with a focus on
active asset management, repositioning the properties and improving the
quality of income streams.  AEWU is currently paying an annualised dividend
of 8p per share.

The Company was listed on the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority
and admitted to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on 12
May 2015. www.aewukreit.com (http://www.aewukreit.com/)

LEI: 21380073LDXHV2LP5K50

About AEW

AEW is one of the world's largest real estate asset managers,
with €79.1bn of assets under management as at 31 December 2024. AEW has
over 860 employees, with its main offices located
in Boston, London, Paris and Singapore and offers a wide range of real
estate investment products including comingled funds, separate accounts and
securities mandates across the full spectrum of investment strategies. AEW
represents the real estate asset management platform of Natixis Investment
Managers, one of the largest asset managers in the world.

As at 31 December 2024, AEW managed €36.8bn of real estate assets
in Europe on behalf of a number of strategies and separate accounts. AEW has
over 510 employees based in 11 offices across Europe and has a long track
record of implementing core, value-add and opportunistic investment strategies
on behalf of its clients. In the last five years, AEW has invested and
divested a total volume of €14.9bn of real estate across European markets.

www.aew.com (http://www.aew.com/)

AEW UK Investment Management LLP is the Investment Manager.  AEW is a group
of companies which includes AEW Europe SA and its subsidiaries as well as
affiliated company AEW Capital Management, L.P. in North America and its
subsidiaries. AEW Europe SAS, together with its subsidiaries
AEW UK Investment Management LLP, AEW S.à.r.l., AEW Invest GmbH and AEW
SAS, is a European real estate investment manager with headquarter offices
in Paris and London. AEW Europe SA and AEW Capital Management, L.P. are
owned by Natixis Investment Managers. Natixis Investment Managers is an
international asset management group based in Paris, France, that is
principally owned by Natixis, a French investment banking and financial
services firm. Natixis is principally owned by BPCE, France's second largest
banking group.

 

Disclaimer

This communication cannot be relied upon as the basis on which to make a
decision to invest in AEWU. This communication does not constitute an
invitation or inducement to subscribe to any particular investment. Issued by
AEW UK Investment Management LLP, 8 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 4BQ.

Company number: OC367686 England. Authorised and regulated by the Financial
Conduct Authority.

 

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