INDUSTRIALS REIT AGREES PENULTIMATE NON MLI DISPOSAL

WITH c.£10 MILLION SWISS SALE AND ACQUIRES A FURTHER UK MLI ESTATE

– UK MLI assets to account for 94% of total portfolio on completion –

Industrials REIT, the UK multi-let industrial (“MLI”) property company, announces that it has exchanged contracts for the sale of a health and leisure club for CHF 12.5 million (c.£10 million). The transaction leaves Industrials REIT with just one non-MLI asset, namely a portfolio of four care homes in Germany which is held in a joint venture, and means the Company remains on track to complete its strategic transition to being a fully focused MLI REIT by the end of the current financial year.

The disposal, which is expected to close in the coming weeks and no later than 1 March 2022, was agreed at a 17% discount to the 31 March 2021 sterling book value, reflecting the continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the asset’s occupier and its ability to pay rents. The Company took a strategic decision to sell the asset rather than to invest time and resources into stabilising it and/or wait for the impact of the pandemic to pass in order to achieve a price in line with valuation.

Including this sale, the Company has agreed three non-MLI disposals since the start of the financial year for c.£92 million in aggregate, reflecting an overall 3.1% discount to March 2021 valuations.

In a separate transaction, Industrials REIT has acquired Harmony Court in Glasgow for £5.25 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.6% and a capital value of £109 per square ft. The 48,169 sq. ft, 10-unit industrial estate is 100% let and generates a total annual passing rent of £311,051, which equates to an average rent of £6.46 per sq. ft.

Harmony Court occupies a strategic location three miles southwest of Glasgow city centre and close to Junctions 23 & 24 of the M8 motorway. Industrials REIT now owns seven MLI estates in the West of Scotland, a market characterised by favourable demand supply dynamics, with vacancy rates below 4% and a restricted development pipeline expected to underpin future rental growth.

Paul Arenson, CEO of Industrials REIT, commented:

“The Lugano transaction takes us another step closer to achieving our goal set out four years ago of being a fully focused MLI REIT by the end of March 2022. We have one non-MLI asset left to sell, being the Care Home portfolio in Germany. We continue to recycle the proceeds into UK MLI assets, having purchased 11 estates for c. £60 million since the start of the financial year.”

Commenting on the latest acquisition, Will Lutton, Head of Investment at Industrials REIT, said:

“The West of Scotland is one of the fastest growing logistics regions in the UK, with a shortage of well-located warehouse space underpinning strong rental growth forecasts. We continue to source and acquire on and off market opportunities at favourable yields, as we remain on track to meet our acquisition target for the financial year.”

Industrials REIT was represented by Colliers on the acquisition.

On completion of the Lugano disposal and based on 31 March 2021 valuations, the Industrials REIT MLI portfolio will account for 94% of total assets.

News in full

In the film below Industrials REIT CEO Paul Arenson highlights the ongoing trend to MLI, hastened by the COVID enforced lockdowns