ING Real Estate Investment Management has expanded its offshore listed vehicle through the acquisition of a £125.5m portfolio and raising £32.2m through a share placing.
The acquisition from Merbrook Unit Trust will increase ING UK Real Estate Income Trust’s (IRET) portfolio size from £554m to £680m. The share placing is expected to push market capitalisation
up from £378m to nearly £410m.
A company statement said: “The investment manager wishes to retain the large majority of the current portfolio and to expand the portion of it that is allocated to the South East of England office and industrial sectors.”
The portfolio is split 40.2% offices, 23.8% industrial and 30% retail. The company said it was looking to dispose of some of its smaller retail assets.
The portfolio that IRET is buying includes three retail properties with an annual rental value of more than £1.5m, offices yielding around £2.7m and industrial premises rented at around £3m.
Since flotation in October 2005 to October 2006, IRET has seen its net asset value rise 24.2%, while paying a dividend yield of around 5%.
