Cromwell European REIT has agreed to acquire three light industrial / logistics properties in Spennymore, Durham, North East England, the UK, in De Immenhorst 7, ‘s-Heerenberg, The Netherlands and in Rosa Castellanosstraat 4, Tilburg, The Netherlands, for €57.8 million (approximately S$88.4 million).
The Manager’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Simon Garing, commented, “I am pleased to announce the acquisitions of three light industrial / logistics assets in the well-established and highly-liquid real estate markets of the UK and the Netherlands. Our experienced, on-the-ground team sourced and secured all assets at a favourable blended 5.6% NOI yield and 3.9% below independent valuations on average.
The acquisitions further build CEREIT’s light industrial / logistics scale in these markets accretively, bringing CEREIT’s portfolio to 41% light industrial / logistics weighting and advancing the Manager’s stated strategy of pivot to 50% weighing of this sector.
The acquisitions have been funded from part of the proceeds of the recent successful S$100 million inaugural perpetual securities issue, which in Euro terms provide competitive funding at 3.55% per annum, allowing us to capitalise on the exceptional fundamentals of this sector while advancing the pipeline of opportunities we have identified for CEREIT in Western Europe”.
The three properties span a total of 65,360 sqm total floor area and are fully let on long-term single leases (with blended WALE of nearly 8 years) to high-quality tenant-customers: Thorn Lighting Limited (Thorn Lighting), a global supplier of integral lighting solutions, Kleertjes.com B.V. (Kleertjes.com), a fast-growing e-retailer and Agile B.V. (Agile), a well-established fashion conglomerate.
The aggregate purchase cost of the Acquisitions is estimated to be approximately €62.4 million (S$95.5 million), comprising the aggregate purchase consideration of €57.8 million (S$88.4 million), the acquisition fees payable to the Manager and the professional and other fees and costs in connection with the Acquisitions.
The purchase price of Thorn was £32.3 million (approximately €38.4 million or S$58.7 million) and the property was independently valued by Knight Frank at £33.6 million (approximately €39.5 million / S$61.0 million) on 23 November 2021. The purchase price of ‘s-Heerenberg was €8.4 million (approximately S$12.9 million) and the property was independently valued by CBRE at €8.8 million (approximately S$13.5 million) on 2 November 2021.
The purchase price of Tilburg was €11.3 million (approximately S$17.3 million) and the property was independently valued by CBRE at €11.8 million (approximately S$18.1 million) on 3 November 2021.
