Sirius Real Estate on shopping spree following €165m fund raise

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Sirius Real Estate, the operator of German branded business and industrial parks, has been on a shopping spree this year with three new sites in Germany, and a further three in the UK.

The company, which is listed in both the UK and Johannesburg, most recently bought a business park in Klipphausen, near Dresden, in a move funded by the £147m (€165m) it raised in November last year. The site, with 17,700 sqm of primarily light industrial and production space, was bought from a corporate owner-occupier. Sirius plans to convert the site into a multi-tenanted business park.

CEO Andrew Coombs said the site was a strong value-add opportunity to grow income and value, and Sirius had already received more interest from potential tenants than there was space available.

There is also an adjacent land parcel which Coombs said "offers significant development potential in an area benefiting from extremely high occupier demand for light industrial, affordable assets in out-of-town locations."

“We are continuing to make good progress on our acquisition pipeline, following our well supported €165m equity raise in November and remain extremely active in both Germany and the UK, with this asset to be our third acquired in Germany this year, and our sixth at group level since November.

“We have now committed to over €90m (£77.1m) of acquisitions in that time and are in advanced discussions on a further €60m (£51.4m) of additional opportunities, leaving us well placed to support the continued long-term growth of the group.”

The capital raise in November involved a mix of institutional and retail offerings, including an accelerated book-building process, a South Africa placing, and a retail offer through PrimaryBid. As of 30th September 2023, the Sirius's portfolio comprised 139 assets let to 9,248 tenants with a total book value of over €2 billion, generating a total annualised rent roll of €184.2 million. Sirius also holds a 35% stake in Titanium, its €350+ million German-focused joint venture with clients of AXA IM Alts.

The Sirius strategy centres on acquiring business parks at attractive yields and integrating them into its network of sites – both under the Sirius and (UK company) BizSpace names and alongside a range of branded products. The business then seeks to reconfigure and upgrade existing and vacant space to appeal to the local market via intensive asset management and investment, and may then choose to refinance or dispose of assets selectively once they meet maturity, to release capital for new investment.