LXi REIT Announces Seven Long Income Grocery Acquisitions Totalling £85 Million
March 29, 2021 at 02:00 am EDT
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The Board of LXi REIT announced seven separate long income acquisitions in the grocery sector from six different developers/vendors (the Acquisitions), following the Company's £125 million capital raise on 11 March 2021. The Acquisitions are for a total cost of £85 million and comprise both pre-let forward fundings and built investments, secured to strong tenant covenants in the structurally supported grocery sector. They benefit from an accretive average net initial yield of 5.25% (net of acquisition costs), a long average unexpired lease term to first break of 19 years, are let on sustainable, low rents and 100% of the income is inflation-linked via contractual rental uplifts. The Acquisitions represent approximately 70% of the net proceeds of the recent capital raise, demonstrating the Company's ability to execute on identified investment opportunities efficiently and in short order. The Company has a number of other assets in solicitors' hands which would fully deploy the balance of the proceeds of the capital raise and further announcements are expected to be made shortly in that regard. Lidl forward funding, Greater London: The Company has exchanged contracts on the pre-let forward funding of a 20,000 sq ft foodstore in East Ham, Greater London, to be developed for and pre-let to Lidl on a 25 year lease from completion of the construction works, with a one-off break right at year 20. The rent will increase in line with RPI inflation on a five yearly basis subject to a 1% pa collar and 3% pa cap. Lidl continues to gain market share in the UK, with a store count nearing 1,000. The grocer is part of The Schwarz Group, the largest European retailer and the fourth largest retailer in the world. Asda foodstore, Glasgow: The Company has acquired a modern, c.50,000 sq ft (net sales area) foodstore in Glasgow. The property was purpose-built for and is let to Asda with 23 years unexpired to first break and contains RPI rental uplifts on a five yearly basis subject to a 4% pa cap and 0% pa collar. The current rent is an exceptionally low £10 per sq ft and represents only c.1.75% of annual store turnover, underpinned by a store which trades very strongly. The tenant's commitment to the location is underlined by the fact that it has traded at this site since 1998 and has recently extended its original lease by a further 20 years. The store provides online connectivity through both home delivery and click and collect and is dominant in its catchment area, with little competition. Tesco foodstore, Greater London: The Company has acquired a modern, purpose-built c.40,000 sq ft (net sales area) foodstore in Bexley, Greater London. The property is let to Tesco with 15 years unexpired to first break and RPI rental uplifts on a five yearly basis, with a cap of 3.5% pa and collar of 0% pa, and benefits from 255 car parking spaces and a dense catchment population. The store trades well and enjoys a dominant position in the locality with no other large Tesco stores within 15 minutes of the property. The catchment includes 110,990 residents who live within an estimated 10 minute drive, which increases to 307,086 residents within a 15 minute drive. Aldi foodstore and Home Bargains, Denbighshire: The Company has acquired a modern 19,000 sq ft Aldi foodstore and adjoining 15,000 sq ft Home Bargains in Llangollen, Denbighshire. The property benefits from an overriding lease of the whole of both units to Sainsbury's Supermarkets Limited, with just under 20 years unexpired on the lease to first break and RPI rental uplifts on a five yearly basis, collared at 1% pa and capped at 3.5% pa. Aldi and Home Bargains occupy by virtue of 20 year and 15 year, RPI-linked subleases. The Aldi and Home Bargains units trade very well and the investment benefits from the double layer of Sainsbury's and Aldi/Home Bargains covenants. Sainsbury's is the UK's second largest grocer, with a £5.2 billion market cap.
LXi REIT plc is a United Kingdom-based real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company's investment objective is to deliver inflation-protected income and capital growth over the medium-term for shareholders through investing in a diversified portfolio of predominantly United Kingdom property, that benefits from long-term index-linked leases with institutional-grade tenants. It invests in United Kingdom commercial property assets let, or pre-let, on long (typically 20 to 30 years to expiry or first break), inflation-linked leases to a range of strong tenant covenants across a diverse range of robust property sectors. Its portfolio comprises over 348 properties across 13 property sub-sectors with multiple underlying uses. It invests in various sectors, including healthcare, budget hotels, theme parks, food stores, industrial, pubs, arena, car parks, garden centers, life sciences, drive-thru coffee, education and others. Its investment advisor is LXI REIT Advisors Limited.