Hansteen buy further 13 industrial properties for €22m

UK-based REIT Hansteen Holdings plc has exchanged contracts on the acquisition of 13 multi-let and single-let industrial properties located in established commercial zones across Germany. The seller was the Internos-managed fund Benelux Industrial Partners, with Hansteen paying a total of €21.65 million, inclusive of costs. The deal is expected to close this month.

The properties include a total lettable area of 99,355 sqm, of which 18,172 sqm (18.29%) is currently vacant. The properties generate a combined passing rent roll of €2.78m per annum from 66 tenants, reflecting an initial yield of 12.86%, with an unexpired weighted average lease term of 1.13 years. At full occupancy the portfolio is expected to produce a rent roll of more than €3.46 million per annum. Ten of the properties are in North Rhine-Westphalia with three others in Eichenzell, Bingen and Hann Muenden.

Commenting on the deal, Ian Watson, Hansteen’s joint CEO, said, “This is exactly the sort of purchase Hansteen loves. It will be hard work and require some capital expenditure but the portfolio has a high yield and real capital upside.” Hansteen’s normal modus operandi is to invest in properties with high yields, low capital costs and upside asset management potential. Main markets are Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, where it owns properties worth €1.6bn.

The deal comes two weeks after Hansteen sold its Hansteen UK Industrial Property Unit Trust II, comprising 76 assets across England, Wales and Scotland, for £192m pounds (€268m). The FTSE 250-listed Hansteen was founded ten years ago on the AIM market by joint CEOs Ian Watson and Morgan Jones, and moved to the main market when it became a REIT in 2009.