James Carthew: TR Property is primed for a real estate rebound
Marcus Phayre-Mudge has been busy preparing the £976m property trust for an eventual recovery in the unloved sector.
When Prologis’s bid for SEGRO (SGRO) was announced on the same day Schroder European Real Estate (SERE) proposed to wind down last week, my first thought was: is there going to be anything left in the London-listed property sector to invest in?
I accept that is hyperbole, but the pace of M&A in recent years has been extraordinary. Even now, we have bids on the table for Alternative Income Reit (AIRE) and Picton Property Income (PCTN), while Residential Secure Income (RESI), abrdn European Logistics Income (ASLI), and abrdn Property Income (API) are in the final stages of managed wind downs. Then there is whatever Saba is up to with Workspace (WKP) and Grainger (GRI).
I think the M&A activity suggests that many savvy investors are taking a longer-term view of the situation and looking to bulk up before the market makes a more decisive turn. However, the outbreak of war in Iran has probably delayed that recovery, as it raised fears of resurgent inflation and higher interest rates, which had been expected to fall.
One beneficiary of the M&A activity has been TR Property (TRY), the £1bn market cap, pan-European trust investing in a mix of listed and unlisted property.
TRY has had… read more here