Portfolio Acquisition

RNS Number : 3485D

NewRiver Retail Limited

01 December 2009

 



NewRiver Retail Ltd

(“NewRiver” or “the Company”)

Portfolio Acquisition

NewRiver Retail Limited (AIM: NRR), the specialist value-creating retail property investment and asset management company, is pleased to announce it has completed the acquisition of its first investment since being admitted to trading on the London AIM and Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX) in September.

The Company is acquiring the freehold interests, from Town Centre Securities PLC, of 28-31 Hope Street and 3-5 Priory Street, Wrexham, a prime multi-let High Street property in the core of this important administrative and commercial centre of North Wales. 

The investment comprises a total of 33,975 sq ft divided into five individual retail units, currently let to national multiple retailers: Peacocks, Vision Express, Bathstore, Laura Ashley and Walmsleys. Total rental income per annum is £534,250. The purchase price of £5.25 million is being wholly funded by cash and reflects a net initial yield of 9.65%.

Allan Lockhart, Director of NewRiver Capital Limited, the wholly-owned subsidiary and property manager, and adviser to NewRiver Retail, said:

"This opportunistic acquisition is an ideal first investment which fits exactly with our stated strategy. Our key objective is to protect the attractive running yield and through improving the longevity of the income stream, we are confident of enhancing capital value in the short to medium term. Wrexham is an ideal location as it is a value retail-driven regional town with strong footfall and scope for growth."

At the time of its Initial Public Offering, the Board stated that NewRiver's investment strategy was to focus on the UK retail sector and to seek opportunities that would generate returns for Shareholders through active and entrepreneurial asset management and this first investment achieves that key objective.

The Company is actively pursuing further acquisitions and specifically, continues to target a number of other opportunities.

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For further information:

NewRiver Retail Ltd                                         Tel: [phone]

Serena Tremlett

NewRiver Capital Ltd                                       Tel: [phone]

Allan Lockhart    

Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial            Tel: [phone]

David Rydell 
Rosanne Perry

BofA Merrill Lynch                                            Tel: [phone]

(Broker & Nominated Adviser)        

Marcus Jackson

Georgina Stewart

About NewRiver 

NewRiver Retail Limited is a specialist real estate investor and asset manager with a particular focus on the UK retail sector. NewRiver Retail is advised on property matters by its wholly-owned subsidiary, NewRiver Capital Limited, whose management team, led by David Lockhart, have more than 50 years combined experience in UK commercial property markets. The Company's activities include active and entrepreneurial asset management and risk controlled development, utilising both its own balance sheet and co-investment joint venture structures. It is NewRiver's intention to become one of the leading sector-focused value-creating property investment businesses operating in the UK retail sector. The Company was founded in 2009 and its shares were admitted to London's AIM and Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX) in September of the same year. 

For more information on NewRiver, please visit www.newriverretail.com and www.newrivercapital.co.uk

 

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