To:
RNS
Date:
14 February 2024
LEI
Number:
213800A2B1H4ULF3K397
From:
Balanced Commercial Property Trust
Limited
Sale
Activity
BCPT agrees sale of
portfolio’s largest office asset
Balanced Commercial
Property Trust Ltd (‘BCPT’ or the ‘Company’) today announces that,
as part of its stated strategy to reduce its exposure to the
challenged UK offices sector and rebalance its portfolio, the
Company has exchanged contracts on the sale of the Leonardo
Building in Crawley, a 110,000 sq.
ft. out-of-town business park office. The sale has been exchanged
unconditionally based on a headline price of £26.1m, representing a
6.1% discount to the December 2023
independent valuation. The net realisation is subject to the
deduction of rental top-ups calculated at the date of completion in
March 2024.
The property, which BCPT
has owned since 2015, is the largest office holding within the
Company’s portfolio by capital value, is located in the Manor Royal
Business District and occupied in its entirety by Virgin Atlantic
until 2032.
The sale will reduce
BCPT’s portfolio exposure to offices from 24.4%[1]
to 22.2% by
capital value (based on the December
2023 independent valuation). Further targeted disposals are
planned and the Company is in active discussions with several
potential buyers.
Since the beginning of the
year, BCPT has announced the disposal of four office holdings,
raising capital proceeds totaling £68.865m delivered at an
aggregate discount of 2.6% to the preceding independent
valuation[2].
Three of these sales are regional out of town offices, which is a
structurally challenged sector of the
market.
Richard Kirby, Fund Manager of BCPT, said:
“Our investment process has
always focused on high quality real estate with strong
fundamentals. The value in this approach is underlined by our
ability to execute the disposal of non-core office holdings at
resilient pricing.
Throughout 2024, we will
continue to re-balance our portfolio towards targeted growth
sectors with resilient occupier markets, primarily select
sub-markets within industrial & logistics and operational
alternatives. We expect to announce further disposal activity in
the short term as we continue to strategically reduce our exposure
to the office sector.”
All enquiries
to:
Richard Kirby
CT Real Estate Partners LLP
Tel: 0207 499 2244
Innes Urquhart
Winterflood Securities Limited
Tel: 0203 100 0265
Dion Di Miceli / Tom MacDonald / Stuart
Muress / James Atkinson
Barclays Bank PLC
0207 623 2323
BarclaysInvestmentCompanies@barclays.com
[1]
Following the sale of King
Street, London on 19 January
2024
[2]
Discounts are calculated
against the last independent valuation prior to contracting the
sale. Sales in Aberdeen, Edinburgh
and London King Street are
compared to September 2023 valuation
having contracted in December 2023
and the figures are as previously reported. The sale of
Crawley adopts the headline price
of £26.1m and is compared to the December
2023 valuation having contracted in February
2024.