GRN.L Regulatory News (GRN)

GREEN REIT ACQUISTION OF SUBSTANTIAL DUBLIN PORTFOLIO

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Dublin, 11 June, 2014 - Green REIT Plc, ("Green REIT" or the "Company"), the Irish property investment company,confirms that it has exchanged conditional contracts with the Cosgrave Property Group to acquire a substantial portfolio of high quality commercial real estate assets in Dublin for €375 million (€384.4 million inclusive of estimated acquisition costs). The acquisition, when completed, will be in line with the Company's stated objective to assemble a portfolio of prime and good quality secondary properties with a Dublin focus.

The Portfolio

The portfolio comprises iconic office buildings at Georges Quay and George's Court, Dublin 2 and retail and other commercial space in Westend Retail Park, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15.

Further information on the portfolio to be acquired is as follows:

§ Contract Price €375 million

§ Passing Rent of €23.7 million per annum on expiry of rent free periods

§ 58 tenants

§ Weighted average unexpired lease term of 4.8 years (to earlier of lease break and expiry)

§ Initial yield of 6%

§ 97% occupancy

§ 650,000 square feet in total, comprising 347,000 square feet of Dublin 2 Grade A offices, 202,000 square feet of retail space in Blanchardstown and 101,000 square feet of office and commercial space in Blanchardstown

§ Main office tenants include Pioneer Investments, Invesco, Northern Trust, GAM Fund Management and RBC Dexia

§ Main retail tenants include Next, Nike, Gap, Heatons, New Look, Lidl and Argos

§ Westend Retail Park is one of only 3 retail parks in Ireland with open use consent

Closing is conditional upon the vendors fulfilling certain conditions.

Funding

The transaction will be funded by the Company's cash and it is intended that bank debt will be raised against these assets in due course, the process for which will commence shortly. The directors are confident that bank debt can be raised against these high quality properties with a strong tenant line-up in strong locations.

Following this transaction the total capital invested by the Company will be €719.4 million, funded by €644.8 million of shareholder equity and €74.6 million of borrowings. The equity invested following this transaction of €644.8 million represents 94% of the total equity raised by the Company since its launch in July 2013 of €685 million (net of costs), leaving the Company with uninvested equity of €40.2 million. The Company's total gearing level following this transaction will be 10.9%, leaving it with gearing headroom of €191.3 million, based on a target total gearing level of 35%. The cash inflow from debt raised against the portfolio being acquired, post-closing, will therefore facilitate further acquisitions by the Company in the future.

Position Post Acquisition

Following this transaction the Company's passing rent will be €50 million per annum, from 19 properties, 96% of which by value are in Dublin, with an initial yield of 7% and a total occupancy rate of 92%. The analysis of the Company's portfolio by sector, on a value basis, will be as follows:

A spokesperson for the Cosgrave Property Group confirmed that "the disposal represents the culmination of a strategy to deleverage the business and to concentrate on their extensive development portfolio"

Stephen Vernon, Chairman of Green Property REIT Ventures, commented: "The acquisition of this substantial portfolio of high quality properties represents significant progress towards our stated objective to assemble a portfolio of commercial property assets which delivers targeted shareholder returns. Our total invested capital will exceed €719 million when this acquisition completes. Having launched as recently as July 2013 this efficient deployment of over 94% of the Company's capital on quality commercial real estate has exceeded the directors' expectations and puts the Company in a strong position to capitalize on further growth in commercial property values in Ireland."

Pat Gunne, Chief Executive, Green Property REIT Ventures added: "We are delighted to execute a transaction of this scale and quality at this point in the Irish real estate recovery cycle. It also demonstrates the strength of our team and enhances our reputation as low risk counterparties within the Irish property industry. We look forward to actively managing this substantial portfolio of exceptional assets and to continuing the excellent relationships developed with the tenants by the Cosgrave team."

ENDS

Contacts

Green Property REIT Ventures (Investment Manager to the Company)

Niall O'Buachalla, COO

+353 (0) 1 2418400

FTI Consulting (IR and PR to the Company)

Dublin London

+353 (0) 1 6633686 +44 (0) 20 3727 1000

Mark Kenny Stephanie Highett

Jonathan Neilan Richard Sunderland

Melanie Farrell Giles Barrie

Nina Legge

greenreit@fticonsulting.com 

About Green REIT plc

Green REIT plc is an Irish Real Estate Investment Trust ("REIT") and is listed on the Irish and London Stock Exchanges. The Company was the first REIT established in Ireland following the introduction of REIT legislation by the Irish Government. The Company's stated strategy is to create a property portfolio consisting primarily of commercial property in Ireland to deliver income and capital growth through opportunistic investments, active property management and prudent use of debt finance. Please visit www.greenpropertyreit.com.

Note on forward-looking information

This Announcement contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties because they relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends, and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company or the industry in which it operates, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements referred to in this paragraph speak only as at the date of this Announcement. The Company will not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revision or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect future events, circumstances, unanticipated events, new information or otherwise except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory authority.