Disposal

RNS Number : 1549M

Helical Bar PLC

14 July 2014

 



14 July 2014

Helical Bar plc ("Helical Bar" or the "Company")

Trio of asset sales in South East nets Helical Bar £37m

Helical Bar today announces that it has sold three assets in Suffolk and Buckinghamshire in the South East of England for a combined total of nearly £37m. The assets were each sold above book value, which in aggregate represented a 6.9% premium.

Helical has exchanged on The Guineas Shopping Centre in Newmarket, Suffolk for a consideration of £18.235m to Ignis Asset Management. The price reflects a net initial yield of 8.0%.

Helical acquired the 110,000 sq ft shopping centre in 2011 from administrators acting for Lloyds Bank and since then has undertaken a concentrated programme of asset management to improve the appearance and performance of the centre.

Also near Newmarket, Helical has completed on the sale of its 53% stake in a 64,000 sq ft research and development facility in Fordham, to a UK institution for £15.865m. The asset was held in a joint venture with Dencora Estates Ltd. The site is let until 2030 to LGC, a company providing chemical, biochemical and DNA analysis including doping control for the horseracing industry.

The facility comprises a mixture of office, laboratory, and industrial buildings together with car parking across circa seven acres. Planning permission has been granted for a further 15,000 sq ft of offices and associated car parking at the facility, and there is the potential for further future development on the remaining 29 acres.

Lastly, Helical has completed on the sale of its 50% stake in Luminous House, Milton Keynes, to a private investor for £2.6m.

The 12,800 sq ft office, which was owned and developed by Helical in joint venture with Abbeygate Developments Ltd is fully let to i2 Office, a company which operates high quality business centres.

Duncan Walker, Investment Director at Helical, commented

"The South East property market is going from strength to strength with sustained demand from both investors and occupiers for high quality buildings across all asset classes.

"The sale of The Guineas in particular illustrates the benefits of our ongoing asset management programme. Having concluded a cosmetic refurbishment, and rectified a number of management issues as a result of the administration process, the asset is once again firmly institutional.

"We continue to seek new opportunities to add value and have significant firepower to do so."

Savills and Lunson Mitchenall acted for Helical on The Guineas Shopping Centre and Kitchen La Frenais Morgan acted for the buyer. Helical was advised by Bidwells on the sale of Fordham. Tudor Toone acted for Helical Bar on Luminous House.

-Ends-

For further information, please contact:

Helical Bar plc

Tim Murphy / Duncan Walker                                                                         020 7629 0113

FTI Consulting

Stephanie Highett / Dido Laurimore / Nina Legge                                          020 3727 1000

 

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