CAPE TOWN - Stenprop, the UK multi-let industrial (MLI) property company has completed the sale of Berlin Shopping Centre for €30.8 million (about R553 million).
The company, which has main listings in London and on the JSE, said on Tuesday that the Hermann Quartier sale would conclude €95m of non-core disposals in the financial year to date, at an average of 18 percent above the March valuation.
The capital would go towards growing the MLI portfolio. The shopping centre in Berlin, Germany was sold to Munich firm ILG Capital, acting for the regulated special property fund ILG Einkaufen D, managed by International Real Estate Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft.
The selling price was in line with the September 30 book value and reflected a 19 percent premium to the March 31, 2020 valuation, Stenprop directors said.
The disposal concluded the sale of Stenprop’s food-led Berlin retail portfolio following the sale of Neukölln Carree retail park earlier this year and the recent exchange of contracts on the sale of the Victoria Centre.
Stenprop’s strategy is to become a 100 percent UK MLI business by March 2022, with the company’s MLI assets expected to rise to 72 percent from 64 percent of Stenprop’s total portfolio once the disposal completes.
Net proceeds after transaction costs, repayment of debt and property taxes were expected to be €19m, which Stenprop intended to use to fund further MLI acquisitions.
Stenprop head of debt and special projects James Wakelin said exiting the Berlin retail portfolio represented another step towards Stenprop’s transition to become a fully focused UK multi-let industrial Reit.
“Our MLI portfolio has performed well throughout the pandemic, evidence of the resilience of the asset class. We look forward to putting the proceeds of this sale to work into our strong pipeline of opportunities as we remain on target to be 100 percent MLI by the end of the next financial year,” he said.
Stenprop’s share price was unchanged at R26.01on Monday, after trading at a relatively flat trend from R24.47 a year before.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE