REG - AEW UK REIT PLC - Sale of two industrial assets for £16.1m

Aew UK ReitAnnouncement

26/06/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 7976D  AEW UK REIT PLC  26 June 2023

26 June 2023

 

AEW UK REIT Plc

 

Sale of two industrial assets for £16.1m

 

 

AEW UK REIT plc (LSE: AEWU) ("AEWU" or the "Company") is pleased to announce
that it has completed on the sale of two industrial assets, being Euroway
Trading Estate, Bradford and Lockwood Court, Leeds, for combined proceeds of
£16,100,000. This reflects a blended net initial yield (NIY) of 6.2% and a
weighted average premium to acquisition price of 31.2%. The prices achieved
for the individual assets are £6,450,000 for Euroway Trading Estate,
reflecting a 6.8% NIY, and £9,650,000 for Lockwood Court, reflecting a 5.9%
NIY.

Euroway Trading Estate was acquired in November 2016 for £4,950,000,
reflecting an 8.1% NIY. At acquisition, the property benefitted from a new
eight-year term certain to Advanced Supply Chain (BFD) Ltd. In December 2019,
the Company completed a rent review which resulted in a 9.1% annual rental
uplift.

Lockwood Court was acquired in February 2019 for £7,320,000, reflecting a
7.7% NIY. The property was acquired with the benefit of a new 10-year lease to
L.W.S. (Yorkshire) Ltd ("L.W.S."), guaranteed by Harrogate Spring Water. In
December 2019, AEWU secured a new 10-year lease to Harrogate Spring Water,
following L.W.S. entering into liquidation.

Both sales realise significant profit for AEWU's shareholders. For Euroway
Trading Estate and Lockwood Court respectively, their sales prices exceeded
the most recent valuation prior to going under offer by 17.3% and 9.7%, as
well as their acquisition prices by 30.3% and 31.8%. Reinvestment of the sales
proceeds into comparatively higher yielding pipeline assets will be accretive
to the Company's earnings.

Laura Elkin, Portfolio Manager, AEW UK REIT plc, commented: "Both Euroway
Trading Estate and Lockwood Court have performed well, delivering strong
returns to AEWU shareholders since acquisition. The value creation through
strong performance of the Yorkshire industrial markets, coupled with our
successful asset management initiatives, presented an opportunity to
crystallise capital growth and reinvest the sales proceeds into higher
yielding opportunities. As such, we expect to make further purchase
announcements in the coming months."

 

ENDS

 

 Enquiries
 AEW UK
 Laura Elkin                     laura.elkin@eu.aew.com (mailto:laura.elkin@eu.aew.com)
                                 +44(0) 7917 058 337
 Henry Butt                      henry.butt@eu.aew.com (mailto:henry.butt@eu.aew.com)
                                 +44(0) 7920 499 076
 Nicki Gladstone                 nicki.gladstone-ext@eu.aew.com (mailto:nicki.gladstone-ext@eu.aew.com)
                                 +44(0) 7711 401 021
 Company Secretary
 Link Company Matters Limited    aewu.cosec@linkgroup.co.uk
                                 +44(0) 1392 477 500

 TB Cardew                       AEW@tbcardew.com (mailto:AEW@tbcardew.com)
 Ed Orlebar                      +44 (0) 7738 724 630
 Tania Wild                      +44 (0) 7425 536 903
 Henry Crane                     +44 (0)7918 207157

 Liberum Capital
 Darren Vickers / Owen Matthews  +44 (0) 20 3100 2000

 

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 UK Investment Management LLP

AEW is one of the world's largest real estate asset managers,
with €84.3bn of assets under management as at 31 March 2023. AEW has over
880 employees, with its main offices located
in Boston, London, Paris and Hong Kong 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 March 2023, AEW managed €39.2bn of real estate assets
in Europe on behalf of a number of funds and separate accounts. AEW has over
480 employees based in 12 locations across Europe and has a long track
record of successfully 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 over €22bn of real estate
across European markets.

 

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