Helical Bar Regulatory News (HLCL)

23 December 2014

Helical Bar plc ("Helical" or "Helical Bar" or the "Company")

HELICAL CLOSES 2014 WITH CIRCA £90 MILLION OF FURTHER INVESTMENT

Helical Bar today announces a number of acquisitions as it continues to recycle capital across its portfolio. The transactions were carried out using the Company's existing cash resources and the details are as follows:

The Sun and Mint Portfolios were acquired from Aberdeen Asset Management for £46.6m. The purchase price represents a net initial yield of 7.9%.

· The Sun Portfolio comprises three single let units and two multi let industrial estates delivering a total lettable area of 266,172 sq ft. The portfolio provides 11 units currently fully let to nine tenants, with a WAULT of 5.95 years to expiry. Key tenants include Edmundson Electrical and Encon Insulations.

· The Mint Portfolio comprises three established retail warehouses and five high street retail assets. The retail warehouses provide 132,493 sq ft of space and are located in Leigh, Peterlee and Stoke on Trent. Key tenants include B&Q, Lidl and Poundstretcher. The high street retail properties are all located in traditional prime pitches of their respective towns of Colchester, Leicester, Nottingham and Plymouth. Delivering 34,800 sq ft of space in total, tenants include H Samuel, Greggs and the Post Office. All the assets are currently fully let and the portfolio provides a WAULT of 7.23 years to expiry.

The 4:2 Portfolio was acquired from Ignis for £22.1m reflecting a net initial yield of 8.3%.

· The portfolio comprises four office properties located in Cheadle, Southampton, Bristol and Uxbridge delivering a total area of 82,179 sq ft, and two industrial properties located in Chichester and Warrington offering a further 125,000 sq ft of space. Helical has already sub sold the Southampton office for £3.46m, marginally above the acquisition price.

· The portfolio provides significant asset management opportunities to increase the income through initiatives including letting up vacant space, refurbishment, lease re-gears and extensions.

Helical has also completed on two single asset purchases:

· The B&Q Warehouse in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire for £5.33m from Threadneedle reflecting a net initial yield of 7.1%. The 36,258 sq ft Open A1 retail warehouse is let to B&Q for a further eight years off a low passing rent, to be reviewed on an Open Market basis.

· London Road Retail Park, Southend-on-Sea for £15.7m from the receivers acting for RBS, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.1%. Comprising three units delivering 74,954 sq ft in total, the park is fully let to Homebase, Currys/PC World and Pets At Home.

Duncan Walker, Investment Director at Helical Bar commented:

"These recent purchases demonstrate our ability to find value within the market, and build on our recent capital recycling activity. The portfolios, in particular, provide plenty of scope for both trading and asset management, as demonstrated by the immediate sub sale of the Southampton office, and we are confident that we will be able to extract further latent value, over time."

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