18 November 2014

Custodian REIT purchases industrial unit in Redditch

Custodian REIT is pleased to announce a further property purchase, bringing the total funds invested following its initial placing and admission to the Official List on 26 March 2014 to £60.5 million.

The Company has acquired a 59,618 sq ft industrial unit on the North Moons Moat Industrial Estate, Ravensbank Drive, Redditch, four miles from Junction 3 of the M42. The property is let to Sapa Profiles UK Limited, a world leader in aluminium profiling, on a 10 year lease expiring on 30 April 2020 (subject to a tenant-only break option on 1 May 2018). The current passing rent is £250,000 per annum, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.87%.

The purchase consideration of £3.0 million was funded from the Company’s existing cash resources following a placing of shares in October 2014 which raised £25.0 million (before costs and expenses). Following this acquisition the Company has no debt and has deployed all of the cash raised in the October placing. Future acquisitions will be funded from the Company’s existing credit facilities, in line with the stated investment strategy of increasing gearing up to 25% loan to value.

Commenting on the acquisition, Richard Shepherd-Cross, Managing Director of Custodian Capital Limited (the Company’s external fund manager), said:

“This acquisition extends our ownership of established manufacturing units, with the property having been used in the manufacture and fabrication of extruded aluminium profiles for many years. There has been scant development of manufacturing units in the recent past and the limited supply of suitable properties is leading to rental growth in the sector.”