NewRiver REIT has sold 22 community pubs for £14.8m to Aprirose, representing a net initial yield of 5.6%.
The pubs initially formed part of the REIT’s 202-pub acquisition from Marston’s in 2013, as part of the “Trent” portfolio.
The 22 pubs were bought for a total consideration of £10.7m, and generated a capital profit £2.2m. NewRiver said the assets generated £5.6m of EBITDA for the REIT during its ownership.
The REIT said it secured contracted income from the assets in December 2016 by surrendering its four-year leaseback agreement with Marston’s 13 months early, and agreeing new 15-year RPI-linked leases. As a result of this deal, the return profile of these assets differed “from the remainder of NewRiver’s pub portfolio and it has determined that the capital can be deployed more profitably elsewhere”.
Mark Davies, chief financial officer of NewRiver, said: “This is just the latest example of our commitment to actively managing our pub portfolio and to recycling capital where assets no longer meet our return criteria.”
The REIT has a £1.4bn portfolio covering more than 8m sq ft, and comprises 34 community shopping centres, 20 retail parks and more than 600 community pubs.
To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@egi.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @estatesgazette
