Custodian REIT PLC (LSE:CREI) said it has acquired a distribution facility between Glasgow and Edinburgh for £11.13mln, with the passing rent reflecting a net initial yield of 5.25%.
The temperature-controlled warehouse, which is currently fully let to UK distribution business Gist at £623,160 per year with five more on the lease, is location on the Eurocentral industrial estate, less than 15 miles to the centre of Glasgow and 35 miles from Edinburgh.
Funded from existing debt facilities, the purchase increases net gearing to 24% loan-to-value, the company said, within its 25% target. It also increases the industrial weighting to 48% of the total value of Custodian’s portfolio of 165 properties.
Richard Shepherd-Cross, managing director of Custodian Capital, the trust’s investment manager, noted that the asset was acquired off-market and described the net initial yield as “attractive”.
“We see scope to significantly increase the rental intake of this conservatively let asset based on recent local comparables combined with strong occupational demand, meaning we expect the reversionary yield on purchase price to move towards circa 7%.
“This purchase highlights the yield advantage offered by the company’s smaller regional property strategy of acquiring strong and secure assets with the potential for future income and valuation growth," Shepherd-Cross said in a statement.