AEW UK REIT has completed the sale of its industrial holding at Deeside Industrial Estate for £4.75m, reflecting a capital value of £49 per sq ft.
The 96,597 sq ft industrial unit, known as Excel 95, was acquired in July 2017 for £4.31m (£45 per sq ft), reflecting a 7.9 per cent net initial yield.
The property was let to Magellan Aerospace, until they vacated in July 2022, paying a £250,000 dilapidations settlement.
The company has disposed of the vacant asset to an owner-occupier, with the price reflecting a circa 8 per cent premium to the 31 March 2023 valuation. By disposing of the asset, the business has also avoided a speculative refurbishment project costing approximately £1m.
Following completion of the sale, the company will have approximately £9.6m to deploy on an attractive pipeline of higher yielding assets, which will be more accretive to the company’s earnings.
Laura Elkin, portfolio manager, AEW UK REIT plc, said:
This disposal is yet another example of our successful strategy in action.
Rather than carry out a lengthy refurbishment programme, we have taken the decision to recycle capital into attractive assets from our pipeline, which are expected to deliver a more accretive performance in the future. We expect to make further announcements in this respect in the coming months.
Matt Pochin and Mark Diaper of Legat Owen acted jointly with Rob Rae and James Goode of Avison Young in the disposal. The buyer was represented by Stephen Downey of GL Hearn.
