19 Dec 2019 14:55
19 December 2019
Yew Grove REIT plc
(the "Company" or "Yew Grove")
Acquisition of portfolio of six office properties at Millennium Park, Naas, County Kildare
Yew Grove REIT plc (LSE:YEW, Euronext:YEW), which owns a diversified portfolio of Irish commercial property assets, is pleased to announce that it has exchanged contracts to purchase a portfolio of six office buildings at Millennium Park, Naas, County Kildare (the "Portfolio"). The purchase price for the Portfolio will be €25.3 million, which represents a net initial yield of 5.8 per cent. after accounting for purchase costs. The Portfolio is expected to have reversionary potential in excess of 9%.
The Portfolio has 141,000 sq. ft. of modern offices over six buildings, as well as 773 carparking spaces and a six acre greenfield site. Five of the office buildings are tenanted by foreign direct investment ("FDI") and large Irish enterprises, with one of the buildings being vacant. The combined leases have a weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) to break of approximately 2.5 years and to lease expiry of approximately 5 years. The current annual rent roll for the Portfolio is approximately €1.6 million.
The Portfolio is a part of the Millennium Park, Naas development which is situated approximately 40 minutes' drive from Dublin City Centre and Dublin Airport. It is expected to benefit from the recent upgrade of the M7 motorway and significantly improved access from the new M7 interchange at Millennium Park.
Yew Grove REIT has a differentiated and diverse portfolio of well tenanted commercial office and industrial properties outside of the Dublin central business district. The Company's geographic target market continues to combine attractive purchase yields and rising rent levels. Against these market dynamics, the Company continues to pursue a number of value enhancing investment opportunities.
On completion of the Millennium Park Portfolio acquisition, and taking account of other announced acquisitions and disposals, Yew Grove will have a portfolio of 28 properties with a proforma gross asset value of approximately €140m and a current annualised rent roll of approximately €10.4m.
The Company announced its successful placement of 26.6 million shares, raising gross proceeds of €25.8 million, on 4 December 2019. This was the second tranche of the Company's share issuance programme launched in June 2019, giving the Company the ability to issue up to 100 million new ordinary shares in order to fund future acquisitions. The Board believes that consolidation within its target market offers the opportunity to build a €300-500 million portfolio of high-yielding, high-quality assets over a three-year period.
Commenting on the acquisition, Yew Grove CEO Jonathan Laredo, said:
"We are pleased to have exchanged on this attractive portfolio of modern office buildings in a well located business park. These are reversionary assets which will benefit from Yew Grove's asset management capabilities and will generate significant value for both tenants and our shareholders.
"Having recently successfully raised the second tranche of our €100m share placing programme, we continue to effectively deploy our capital in assets at attractive reversionary yields with strong tenant covenants."
Enquiries:
Yew Grove REIT plc | Tel: +353 (1) 480 3960 | ||||
Jonathan Laredo, Chief Executive Officer | |||||
Michael Gibbons, Chief Investment Officer | |||||
Charles Peach, Chief Financial Officer | |||||
Investec Bank plc | |||||
NOMAD & Joint Broker: David Anderson, Cassie Herlihy | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7597 5970 | ||||
Investec Europe Limited trading as Investec Europe Euronext Growth Advisor & Joint Broker: Tommy Conway, Eoin Kennedy
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Tel: +353 (1) 421 0000
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Goodbody Stockbrokers | |||||
Joint Broker: David Kearney, Joe Gill | Tel +353 (1) 667 0400 | ||||
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IFC Advisory Financial PR: Tim Metcalfe, Graham Herring | Tel +44 (0) 203 934 6630 | ||||
Notes to editors:
Yew Grove REIT plc, quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM and Euronext Growth Dublin, is an Irish commercial real estate company invested in a diversified portfolio of Irish commercial property. Yew Grove has a particular focus on well-tenanted commercial real estate assets comprising of office and industrial assets outside of Dublin's Central Business District.
Yew Grove's highly experienced team has a proven track record in commercial property investment in Ireland and internationally, and is focused on delivering results. Its investment approach is strategic, not speculative, principally on assets that are let, pre-let or to be let after refurbishment. Shareholders are provided with stable, long-term income from a diverse portfolio of commercial property comprising well-tenanted real estate in strategic centres let to Irish government entities and other state bodies, IDA Ireland supported and other FDI companies, and larger corporates.
ENDS