Urban Logistics completes four acquisitions since February

Last-mile logistics-focussed property investor Urban Logistics said in an update on Monday that it had acquired £72m of income producing assets since February, at a blended net initial yield of 4.6% with “significant” asset management potential.

The FTSE 250 real estate investment trust said the four completed transactions including its first central London property, purchased for £28m at a net initial yield of 4.2%, as well as other assets “strategically located” in existing and emerging logistics hubs across the UK.

All transactions were immediately income-producing, and benefited from “strong” covenants.

In total, £140m of capital had been deployed or committed since the company’s December fundraise, at a blended net initial yield of 5%.

“It has been a busy few weeks at Urban Logistics, as we continue to deploy the proceeds from our December fundraising, on assets with significant scope for shareholder value creation,” said chief executive officer Richard Moffitt.

“We are pleased to acquire our first property in central London,on a long lease at 4.2% net initial yield and with an excellent tenant in place.

“We think of this as a very exciting opportunity with significant reversion and suitable for a number of last mile solutions.”

Moffitt described the acquisitions as “a step forward” as the company worked through its “extensive” pipeline, with further high-yielding assets to come.

“We remain focused on well let, strategically positioned assets, in existing and emerging logistics hubs.

“Our recent inclusion in the FTSE 250 index underlines our position as a leading player in this market sector, and our reputation as a reliable and nimble counterparty for sellers is enabling us to access off-market transactions at very competitive prices.

“We expect this flow of acquisitions to continue and expect to make further acquisitions in the near term, with acquisitions in solicitors hands bringing our expected blended NIY on capital deployed since the December fundraise to circa 5.4%.”

At 0812 BST, shares in Urban Logistics REIT were down 0.8% at 185p.