Warehouse REIT is raising almost £46m in fresh equity from shareholders to fund its latest acquisitions.
The AIM-listed investment firm will place some 37.9m shares in a Peel Hunt-led deal to raise £45.9m. The shares will be offered at 121p, a discount of 4% to yesterday’s closing price.
Warehouse REIT will use the money to help finance its acquisition of two distribution warehouses in Harlow for £13.9m as well as two more assets that it has under offer.
Andrew Bird, managing director of Tilstone Partners, the REIT’s investment adviser, said: “We are seeing unprecedented demand for modern, fit-for purpose warehouse space in economically relevant locations, underpinned by e-commerce growth, which has accelerated as businesses of all size look to adapt and future-proof their operations.
“Having committed to an investment strategy founded on this evolution back in 2013, the company has been able to amass a portfolio of scale, delivering both rental and capital growth even against the backdrop of the current pandemic, allowing for the generation of significant returns for shareholders.”
The REIT’s latest deal, also announced today, saw it buy the two Harlow sites at a net initial yield of 8.6%. It also has two purpose-built multilet warehouse estates under offer for a combined £43.5m, reflecting a blended NIY of 5.6%.
Adding its pipeline of near-term acquisition opportunities to those four acquisitions totals £263.3m in investments with a blended NIY of 5.9%.
The company has also confirmed that it will apply to move its shares from AIM to the London Stock Exchange’s main market, which it said will “better align the company with similarly sized companies in the sector and afford it access to a wider institutional investor base in the UK and overseas”.
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