Stenprop Limited, a property company listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange, with a secondary listing on the JSE’s AltX, announced today that it successfully completed the acquisition of 25 Argyll Street in London for £75 million (R1.385 billion) and is also finalising the acquisition of Hermann Quartier, a Berlin based shopping centre, for €22.7 million (R299.2 million).
Paul Arenson, STENPROP CEO, commented: “The capital raise completed in March has enabled us to successfully convert our pipeline and acquire these two strategic yield enhancing assets with secure lease profiles and strong capital growth potential.
25 Argyll Street is a 65,000 sq. ft office building located in the heart of London’s West End, opposite the Apple Store in Regent Street, and fully let to quality tenants including H&M, Spotify and Live Nation at rentals averaging approximately £55 per sq. ft. The building was purchased in a 50:50 Joint Venture with a co-investor for £75 million. STENPROP’s initial return on equity from the acquisition is expected to be approximately 6.85% per annum.
Hermann Quartier is located on the high street of Berlin’s central suburb of Neukoelln with excellent public transport links, including an underground station inside the shopping centre. The 8,550 m2 shopping centre is anchored by strong tenants including Kaiser’s, DM, Netto, KIK and Reno. The transaction will be completed in the next two months and is expected to deliver a return on equity in excess of 7.5% per annum.
Both acquisitions will be funded 50% by debt and 50% by cash using the proceeds from the capital raise in March 2015.
”These properties are in line with our strategy to invest in locations and markets likely to deliver growth in income and property values over time. We have a healthy pipeline and are in advanced discussions to potentially acquire another medium sized suburban retail centre in a major German city,” concluded Arenson.
In March 2015, STENPROP successfully raised €35 000 000 (R457 975 013) through a substantially oversubscribed private placement to South African investors.
