Good morning. Here’s your daily round-up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of industry-relevant headlines from the nationals.
Derwent London has upped its rental growth guidance for 2024 after a strong year for leasing in 2023, which saw it add £28m in new rent at an average of 8% ahead of ERV.
“Despite macro uncertainty, businesses are prioritising quality, amenity and sustainability, supporting good demand for the right product in the right location,” said chief executive Paul Williams. “This plays well to our strengths and reflects London’s diverse and robust occupational market, particularly in the West End. After a year of substantial outward yield movement, investment opportunities are starting to emerge and our balance sheet positions us well.”
Elsewhere in London, landed estate Grosvenor has had a reshuffle of its UK property team, bringing its investment and development teams together.
Rachel Dickie, who joined Grosvenor in 2020 from Legal & General Capital to build diversification within the business by both geography and sector, will take on the expanded role from 1 April and be responsible for a team of around 35.
Grosvenor said it was bringing the two teams together to better support its growth ambitions for its regional investment and development strategy.
Grosvenor Property UK chief executive James Raynor said: “We have an ambitious growth strategy and by consolidating two teams where we will be investing significant capital under Rachel Dickie’s leadership, we are bringing together some fantastic expertise that will greatly benefit our activity in the regions and in London.”
SEGRO is also looking to grow after a strong set of results earlier in the month. Ahead of markets closing last night, the industrial REIT launched a £800m placing to raise cash to “take advantage of potential acquisition opportunities”.
Earlier this month, SEGRO boss David Sleath told EG it could be a “vintage” year for the industrial and logistics market.
The listed landlord last raised equity in 2020. Since then it has deployed £2.2bn in development capital expenditure, including infrastructure, £3.1bn on acquisitions including land purchases, and made £1.4bn of disposals.
In the newspapers this morning, Currys’ dismissal of a high bid from Elliott Advisors led the business sections in the Financial Times, Times and Telegraph. The electricals retailer said the improved £757m bid (up from an earlier £680m offer) still “significantly undervalued” the business.
China-based JD.com, the online group, has said it is also considering an offer for Currys, but it has yet to provide details of a proposed deal.
Fire sales were a hot topic in the papers this morning too, with creditors to bankrupt property group Signa, which had co-owned Selfridges in London and the Chrysler Building in New York, seeking to oust the firm’s management group and hand control to independent auditors.
They fear that assets from two subsidiaries, which own the bulk of Signa’s properties and are still being run by existing management, are being transferred to related parties with limited transparency
Elsewhere, experts have warned that local authorities are being “forced to the pawnshop” in a fire sale of council-owned assets.
Around 10 councils, including Middlesbrough, Stoke-on-Trent, Somerset, Southampton and Bradford, have applied to the government for “exceptional financial support” to balance this year’s books, but have been told that any such agreement will not come in the form of funding, but instead as permission to borrow and sell off assets to pay for day-to-day services.
All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals:
Strong leasing year boosts Derwent’s confidence
Grosvenor restructures UK property team
Stanhope and Mitsubishi plan revamp of tired Westminster block
JLL preps for bigger deals to return
Private investors splash $338bn on global real estate
Trafford Wharfside masterplan waved through
COMMENT: Does L&G move signal a bounceback for listed real estate?
Tata to build gigafactory in Somerset
Costain consolidates in Can of Ham
Resi permissions tumble to less than 35,000
PlayStation London Studio based in RLAM Soho office set to close
SEGRO eyes £800m raise through share placing and retail offer
Currys snubs new offer from Elliott Advisers (£)
Hong Kong announces easing measure for property market (£)
English councils “forced to the pawnshop” in fire sale of assets (£)
Signa creditors push to oust management over property fire sale fears (£)
