Wt Wner Usd Regulatory News (WNER)

11 Dec 2009 15:13



Warner Estate Holdings PLC

("Warner Estate")

ASHTENNE CONCLUDES 2009 DISPOSAL PROGRAMME WITH £31.5 MILLION CORUS SALE

Ashtenne Industrial Fund, the specialist industrial property fund jointly managed by Aviva Investors and Warner Estate, has sold The Steel Park in Wednesfield near Wolverhampton to an undisclosed purchaser for £31,500,000, reflecting a net initial yield of 8.62%. 

The sale brings Ashtenne's 2009 disposal programme to an end, with the Fund having comfortably exceeded its 2009 sales targets, with nearly £92 million now raised from 37 separate transactions since March 2009. Importantly, the sales have been completed at an average discount to their December 2008 valuation of just 1.5%. John Heawood, Managing Director of Ashtenne Asset Management, the division of Warner Estate responsible for the asset management of Ashtenne Industrial Fund, commented:

"2009 has been quite a year for the business. We completed a sale a week, 37 in total, which is one for every week since I joined the business on 6th April. This is all down to the staff and managers in our network of regional offices. It is a credit to the strong working relationship with our Fund Manager Aviva and our existing investors that the Fund has been able to achieve, in a difficult market, the £45million equity raise and refinancing a 4 year £364million loan with RBS and Lloyds. This remains one of the largest in the sector this year and sets the Fund in good stead for 2010 and beyond."

The Steel Park is a 761,614 sq ft steel processing, storage and distribution complex, with additional office and training facilities and is set on a 60 acre site, including a 15 acre plot of land available for further development. The entire site is let to Corus UK Ltd until March 2026, with a parent company guarantee from Corus Group Ltd. Corus is a wholly owned subsidiary of TATA Steel, the world's 5th largest steel producer. The current rent is £2,868,850 per annum, subject to 2.5% compound increase rent reviews every 5 years.

Ashtenne had acquired the site in a sale and leaseback from Corus in 2001, before working with Corus in 2008 to extend the buildings by 37,000sq ft, while the tenant remained in full occupation of their existing space. Upon completion of the works, the 7 occupational leases were regeared to their current terms. 

The single let nature and the lot size (Ashtenne's largest) make it something of an anomaly in the Fund's portfolio and it had been targeted as a potential disposal since the completion of the building and lease extensions.

11th December 2009

-ends-

Enquiries: