F&C Commercial Property Trust completes Kingswell acquisition

29th Apr 2014 11:45

FTSE 250-listed F&C Commercial Property Trust has acquired two pre-let blocks at a business park in Aberdeen, providing exposure to 'one of the most buoyant office markets in the UK'.The transaction completed the trust's 2012 agreement to purchase four new pre-let headquarter office buildings at the site in Kingswell. The FTSE 250-listed company paid £30.4m for the blocks, having paid £65m for the first two, which were bought in March this year. The purchase of all four was funded by existing cash resources and the company's £30m committed bank facility with Barclays Bank. "This is a significant transaction for the company and provides it with exposure to one of the most buoyant office markets in the UK as well as increasing its level of dividend cover," F&C said. "The properties are all income producing, generating rental income of £6.9m per annum, equivalent to a net initial yield of 6.8%." Blocks three and four amount to approximately 100,000 square feet and have been let to Transocean Drilling UK for a term of 20 years. All the lease agreements provide for five yearly rent reviews to the higher of open market rental value or 3% per annum compounded, the group explained. The valuations of the first two blocks were reflected in the net asset value (NAV) per share as at March 31st 2014, while the third and fourth blocks will be recognised in the NAV per share at the end of June.The share price dropped 0.26% to 120.81p by 12:15 on Tuesday. NR