NewRiver REIT buys Dorset retail park via Bravo Strategies JV

(Sharecast News) - Real estate investment trust NewRiver said on Thursday that its joint-venture with PIMCO's Bravo Strategies III fund has exchanged contracts to buy Poole Retail Park in Dorset for £44.7m.

NewRiver said the acquisition, which will be satisfied from existing resources and available credit facilities, provided it with "a number of opportunities to extract further value and enhance income streams". This includes the expansion and adaption of units to better meet the needs of current and prospective occupiers.

The FTSE 250 company will hold a 10% interest in the asset and will also be appointed as asset manager, in return for a management fee.

NewRiver said the asset currently had an "attractive" weighted average unexpired lease term of 6.7 years, an affordable average rent of £18.24 per square foot and an average rent-to-sales ratio of 7.8%.

Poole Retail Park, a fully-let retail park located between the town centres of Poole and Bournemouth, covers 208,000 square foot of retail space, with tenants such as John Lewis at Home, DW Sports, Next Home, Homesense, Boots and Home Bargains.

Chief executive Allan Lockhart said: "Acquiring through this JV ensures we can maximise our returns on capital deployed through the receipt of rental income, asset management fees and promotes, while maintaining a conservative balance sheet.

"Poole Retail Park is a high performing asset that benefits from a very convenient location and a strong and diverse tenant line-up, and presents a number of exciting opportunities to extract further value and higher rental income through active asset management and risk-controlled development."

As of 0820 BST, NewRiver shares had picked up 1.67% to 184.83p.