Tritax EuroBox (EBOX) has announced that it has completed re-gearing the lease at its property in Bornem, with Alcon-Couvreur NV, which it describes as one of the world’s leading eye care companies. The Bornem property is in a prime logistics location near Antwerp in Belgium. It is a well specified facility that was acquired by EBOX as part of a portfolio in October 2018 and was let to two occupiers with interconnected business activities. The principal tenant was Alcon-Couvreur NV, one of the world’s leading eye care companies, on a lease expiring on 31 August 2027 with a break option in August 2022. The second tenant was Pharma Distri Centre (PDC), a third-party logistics supplier to Alcon, occupying the property on a lease expiring on 31 January 2020.
The Company has negotiated a re-geared lease whereby Alcon Laboratories Belgium will take occupation of the entire premises and remove the 2022 break option, delivering a combined WAULT to expiry of 7.2 years. Swiss based, Alcon Pharma Ltd will be the guarantor to the new lease.
EBOX says that this asset management initiative lengthens the income profile and enhances the value of the asset. This follows the letting of the adjacent vacant unit in March 2019 to Belgische Distributiedienst NV (BD NV), part of the BD myShopi NV group. This unit had been vacant for over 18 months prior to EBOX’s acquisition of the property.
Bornem is located in the prime logistics corridor in Belgium, between Antwerp and Brussels, and benefits from good port and airport connectivity, with the Port of Antwerp approximately 35km north and Brussels Airport approximately 35km to the south.
Comments from Nick Preston, Fund Manager of Tritax EuroBox
“We are delighted to continue to deliver our identified business plans in Belgium so soon after acquisition, demonstrating not only the quality of the property and its location, but also the value of our informed stock picking, identifying assets where we can add value in the near term”
This lease re-gear, along with the letting of the adjacent unit in March this year has increased and lengthened the income profile and enhanced the value of this well-located asset.”
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