AEW UK Long Lease REIT (AEWL) has appointed a new investment adviser following a strategic review.
Its current investment management agreement with AEW UK Investment Management will be terminated on 9 April 2020 and will be replaced with an agreement with Mason Owen and Partners.
Mason Owen will have prime responsibility for the group’s property portfolio and will also assume the role of property manager with effect from 1 March 2020.
Established in 1967, Mason Owen’s clients include Assura, Greggs, Grosvenor Europe, Iceland Foods, Legal & General Investment Management, LondonMetric Property, LXi REIT, M&G Real Estate and Nuveen.
AEWL has also appointed Langham Hall Fund Management as its alternative investment fund manager with effect from 9 April 2020, while Langham Hall UK Depositary will continue to act as the group’s depositary. King Capital Consulting has been appointed consultant portfolio manager, Hanway Advisory will become company secretary with effect from 5 March 2020, replacing Link Company Matters, and Westlake Clark will assume the role of the company’s administrator replacing Link Alternative Fund Administrators whose contract will end on 5 June 2020.
The move is expected to reduce AEWL’s recurring annual overhead costs to approximately half of its historic level.
The board said it expects the changes will result in a fully cash covered annual dividend of 5.5p per share from 1 July 2020.
“The company is now well-placed to deliver to our shareholders attractive, sustainable and fully cash-covered dividends over the short and longer term, together with the potential for income growth from its diversified portfolio of UK property investments, the majority of which are let on long leases that contain inflation-linked rent uplifts,” said Steve Smith, chairman of AEWL.
“The board, along with the group’s advisers, is continuing to seek longer term solutions to expand the group, including the introduction of new capital, and to deliver further shareholder value.”
The changes come following a strategic review of the company that included the possible sale of the group or its portfolio and returning funds to shareholders.
On 7 August 2019, the board announced the conclusion of its review and that it would look to grow the company having not received any proposals that reflected its valuation of the group.
AEWL : AEW Long Lease REIT appoints new investment adviser