19 May 2010 07:00
For immediate release 19 May 2010
LXB Retail Properties Plc ("LXB Retail", the "Company")
Biggleswade Site Acquisitions
LXB Retail, a closed-end real estate investment company focused on edge of town and out of town retail assets, is pleased to announce that it has agreed unconditionally to acquire two retail investments. Biggleswade Retail Park is being acquired from Nottingham County Council pension fund and a solus DIY retail unit is being acquired from Xerox Pensions Limited, with both investors advised by Aberdeen Asset Management, for an aggregate sum of £22.716 million.
These acquisitions are the final stage of a complex site assembly programme which now provides LXB Retail with a 15 acre (6 hectare) strategic retail site adjacent to the A1 (M) trunk road in Bedfordshire. In addition to the two acquisitions above, the Company has made a further four separate acquisitions at the site over the past 2 weeks from different private investors.
In total, the Company will pay £38.766 million for the six assets acquired, funded entirely from cash resources.
The Biggleswade site is currently a mix of existing retail and development assets with planning permission for further retail. The existing retail provides total accommodation of 155,000 sq ft of predominantly Open A1 non food retail accommodation let, inter alia, to Homebase, Matalan, Argos, Halfords and Laura Ashley. The passing rent is approximately £1.6 million providing a low average base of £10.25 per sq ft.
The retail developments have existing planning permissions for a further 90,000 sq ft of Open A1 non food consent and are currently vacant.
In addition, LXB Retail has also completed the purchase of an adjacent site from private vendors for £850,000. This site, which is currently undeveloped, comprises a total area of 1.75 acres (0.7 hectares) and will be of strategic help to the development of Biggleswade and the reconfiguration of road access to the retail site. This site is designated for development for 'employment uses'.
The Company has already commenced discussions with Mid Bedfordshire District Council to submit a planning application for a comprehensive redevelopment which would provide c. 250,000 sq ft of redesigned and fully integrated modern retail accommodation in a location with significant retail catchment and excellent transport links. Discussions with a number of potential retail occupiers have reinforced the Company's belief that this has the potential to become a major retail destination.
Including acquisition costs the total expenditure on the Biggleswade assets will be £41.9m.
Commenting on the acquisitions Tim Walton, CEO of LXB Manager LLP, said:
"This announcement is the culmination of a complex site assembly strategy in a key location which we have been working on since LXB Retail's IPO last October. It comes hard on the heels of the £30 million investment in two key sites in Greenwich and further demonstrates our ability to source and put together complex multi-vendor deals with the potential to generate significant shareholder value. We look forward to delivering on that potential for investors over the next few years.
The Company is working on a number of other acquisitions and looks forward to making further significant announcements in due course."
For further information please contact:
LXB Manager LLP Tel: 020 7432 7900
Tim Walton, CEO
Brendan O'Grady, FD
Buchanan Communications Tel: 020 7466 5000
Charles Ryland / Nicola Cronk / George Prassas