News

16 Jul 2021

Lar España issues €400m green bond

Lar España, which owns a portfolio of shopping centres in Spain, has successfully closed an issue of €400m of senior unsecured green bonds. The issue was four times oversubscribed and the bonds have a fixed annual coupon of 1.750% and mature at the end of 2026. Ratings agency Fitch has assigned a BBB investment grade […]

16 Jul 2021

UK Residential REIT fails to hit IPO target

The initial public offering (IPO) of UK Residential REIT failed to raise its target £150m. The investment company announced its intention to float at the beginning of June and was hoping to announce its initial fundraising on 14 July and enter the market on 16 July, according to the prospectus. [QD comment: It’s slightly surprising that this […]

12 Jul 2021

ASLI buys in Barcelona and updates on tenant administration

Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Income (ASLI) has acquired an urban logistics warehouse in Barcelona, Spain for €18.8m and a net initial yield of 3.7%. The group has also provided an update on one of its tenants, Office Depot France, which went into administration earlier this year. The company said it was increasingly likely that the […]

09 Jul 2021

Urban Logistics REIT raises £108.3m

Urban Logistics REIT has raised £108.3m in an equity raise. The group said the placing was materially oversubscribed above the £108m target and a scaling back exercise was carried out. A total of 65,870,766 placing shares (£102.1m) in the company have been conditionally placed at an issue price of 155 pence per share. Additionally, a total […]

09 Jul 2021

QD view – Another property takeover?

Yet more news of a potential takeover of a listed property company came to the fore this week, as private equity groups continue to circle the discounted real estate sector. Due to COVID uncertainty, many property companies have been trading at discounts to net asset value (NAV) for many months now. Despite the successful rollout […]

08 Jul 2021

Great Portland Estates reports momentum in London office market

Great Portland Estates signed lettings worth £12.7m of new annual rents in three months to the end of June, with further £14.9m under offer, it said in a trading update. The central London office developer’s chief executive Toby Courtauld said momentum was building. The new lettings, which included £8.0m of retail space, were 9.3% ahead […]

25 Jun 2021

QD view – Office needs to Flex muscles

“I wish we had 10 centres in Cornwall,” Mark Dixon, chief executive of IWG – the world’s largest flexible workspace provider, said at a recent webinar when discussing the shift in occupier demand during the pandemic. He believes the trend for working “near to home” is here to stay. “The genie is out of the […]

24 Jun 2021

AEW UK REIT posts 15.1% NAV total return

AEW UK REIT has reported strong annual results with a net asset value (NAV) total return of 15.1%. The group, which has a heavy portfolio weighting to the industrial sector (60.8%), saw its NAV increase 6.5% in the year to 31 March 2021 to 99.15p per share (March 2020: 93.13p). The group paid a dividend […]

24 Jun 2021

LXI REIT returns to market for £75m raise

LXI REIT has announced its intention to raise £75m through the issue of new shares. The issue price of 133p per share reflects a 2.3% premium to the company’s estimated IFRS net asset value (NAV) of 130p at 1 June 2021 and a discount of 7.9% to its closing share price of 144.4p. The proceeds […]

18 Jun 2021

QD view – Is property still a good hedge against inflation?

Real estate has historically been a good hedge against inflation and, with the consumer prices index (CPI) rising to 2.1% in May heightening fears that stagflation could be round the corner, investors may be keen to double down on their real estate investment trust (REIT) exposure. However, traditional real estate market drivers are not at […]