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Aberdeen Standard European Logistics completes its investment in Den Hoorn

Aberdeen Standard European Logistics completes its investment in Den Hoorn – Following the announcement dated 16 December 2019, Aberdeen Standard European Logistics has confirmed that it has completed its acquisition of the freehold logistics warehouse in Den Hoorn, the Netherlands, for a net value of EUR49.9 million, providing a net initial yield of 4.5%.

This is a newly built warehouse on a perpetual leasehold with the option to purchase the freehold from the local municipality. Built to a modern specification, it is a quality warehouse providing office and mezzanine space of over 43,000 square metres. Both LED lighting and solar roof panels add sustainable credentials to the investment.

The warehouse has an attractive income profile and will be fully leased to logistics operator A.G. van der Helm Vastgoed Moerdijk B.V. as its headquarters on a ten year CPI indexed lease.

The warehouse is located centrally within the Randstad region, the most densely populated area in the Netherlands, close to both the Hague and Rotterdam with access to the A4 connecting Den Hoorn with the port of Rotterdam and Schiphol airport. Thanks to its urban location, the site has attracted strong demand from other third-party logistics and last-mile delivery operators such as PostNL and DHL.

Financing

The company has also finalised and drawn down long term financing secured on its properties at Den Hoorn and Zeewolde, the Netherlands. This secured loan facility has been arranged with Berlin Hyp for a total value of EUR35.7 million and fixed for an eight year term at an attractive all-in interest rate. The Company has now fully deployed the funds raised in July 2019 and, following draw down of this facility, the overall asset-level gearing sits at or around 35 per cent. of gross assets.

The board says that it keeps the level of borrowings under review and the aggregate borrowings will always be subject to the absolute maximum set at the time of the fund’s launch, calculated at the time of drawdown for a property purchase, of 50 per cent. of gross assets. The actual level of gearing may fluctuate over the company’s life as and when new assets are acquired or whilst short term asset management initiatives are being undertaken.

Evert Castelein, the fund manager, commented: “I am extremely pleased to complete the addition of this newly built and sustainable asset to ASLI’s property portfolio. Following this acquisition, all funds raised in July have now been fully deployed. I am very happy with the quality portfolio that we have built up across five countries in Europe which continues to reflect the highly sustainable indexed income stream which helps protect against inflation. Through our local transaction managers, we continue to see a healthy pipeline of interesting opportunities across Europe in a variety of logistics locations. Our three most recent purchases have had an urban focus. We remain keen to capitalise on opportunities as they arise and further diversify the portfolio over the next 6 months“.

[This is good news for ASLI’s shareholders. We would expect that the board is now thinking about whether to raise more money to continue the fund’s expansion.]

ASLI : Aberdeen Standard European Logistics completes its investment in Den Hoorn

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