Acquisition of a high-yielding leisure park
10th June 2025
AEW UK REIT plc
Acquisition of a high-yielding leisure park
AEW UK REIT plc (LSE: AEWU) ("AEWU" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has purchased Freemans Leisure Park (the "Property"), an 8.4-acre freehold site in the centre of Leicester, for £11,150,000. The purchase price reflects an attractive net initial yield of 10.6% and a capital value of £103 per sq. ft.
The Property occupies a prominent position on an arterial route one mile south of Leicester city centre, close to the University of Leicester's student campus, and totals 108,771 sq. ft. across five units along with service yards and 582 car parking spaces.
The Property is fully let to a well-known group of national tenants including Odeon Cinemas Ltd, Mecca Bingo Ltd, Spirit Pub Company Ltd and Nando's Chickenland Ltd, providing a weighted average unexpired lease term to expiry of greater than eight years. The Property presents various short-to-medium term asset management opportunities, including rental growth prospects through upcoming rent reviews; the possibility of an EV charging letting; and appraising alternative uses, such as hotel and restaurant, for areas of the site that have not already been developed.
Leicester benefits from high levels of footfall as the largest city in the East Midlands with one of the fastest growing populations in the UK. The city is served by rail connections to London, Birmingham and Nottingham, and is situated at the midpoint between London and Leeds on the M1 motorway.
The acquisition completes the Company's redeployment of sale proceeds from the disposal of Central Six Retail Park in Coventry. In seeking to deploy these proceeds, the Company has also identified a pipeline of attractively priced potential investments available for purchase in the current market.
Commenting on the purchase, Laura Elkin, Portfolio Manager of AEW UK REIT said: "We are very pleased to have completed this acquisition which returns the Company to a fully invested position. Freemans Leisure Park offers an accretive income profile, as well as being defensively priced relative to surrounding alternative-use land values. We continue to actively monitor a pipeline of investments and remain optimistic about the attractive opportunities for investment in the current market."
ENDS
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AEW UK |
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Laura Elkin |
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Henry Butt |
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AEW Investor Relations |
investor_relations@eu.aew.com |
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Company Secretary |
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MUFG Corporate Governance Limited |
aewu.cosec@cm.mpms.mufg.com |
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Cardew Group |
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Tania Wild Henry Crane |
+44 (0) 7425 536 903 +44 (0) 7918 207 157 |
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Panmure Liberum |
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Darren Vickers |
+44 (0) 20 3100 2222 |
Notes to Editors
About AEW UK REIT
AEW UK REIT plc (LSE: AEWU) aims to deliver an attractive total return to shareholders by investing predominantly in smaller commercial properties (typically less than £15 million), on shorter occupational leases in strong commercial locations across the United Kingdom. The Company is currently invested in office, retail, industrial and leisure assets, with a focus on active asset management, repositioning the properties and improving the quality of income streams. AEWU is currently paying an annualised dividend of 8p per share.
The Company was listed on the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and admitted to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on 12 May 2015. www.aewukreit.com
LEI: 21380073LDXHV2LP5K50
About AEW
AEW is one of the world's largest real estate asset managers, with €79.1bn of assets under management as at 31 December 2024. AEW has over 860 employees, with its main offices located in Boston, London, Paris and Singapore and offers a wide range of real estate investment products including comingled funds, separate accounts and securities mandates across the full spectrum of investment strategies. AEW represents the real estate asset management platform of Natixis Investment Managers, one of the largest asset managers in the world.
As at 31 December 2024, AEW managed €36.8bn of real estate assets in Europe on behalf of a number of strategies and separate accounts. AEW has over 510 employees based in 11 offices across Europe and has a long track record of implementing core, value-add and opportunistic investment strategies on behalf of its clients. In the last five years, AEW has invested and divested a total volume of €14.9bn of real estate across European markets.
AEW UK Investment Management LLP is the Investment Manager. AEW is a group of companies which includes AEW Europe SA and its subsidiaries as well as affiliated company AEW Capital Management, L.P. in North America and its subsidiaries. AEW Europe SAS, together with its subsidiaries AEW UK Investment Management LLP, AEW S.à.r.l., AEW Invest GmbH and AEW SAS, is a European real estate investment manager with headquarter offices in Paris and London. AEW Europe SA and AEW Capital Management, L.P. are owned by Natixis Investment Managers. Natixis Investment Managers is an international asset management group based in Paris, France, that is principally owned by Natixis, a French investment banking and financial services firm. Natixis is principally owned by BPCE, France's second largest banking group.
Disclaimer
This communication cannot be relied upon as the basis on which to make a decision to invest in AEWU. This communication does not constitute an invitation or inducement to subscribe to any particular investment. Issued by AEW UK Investment Management LLP, 8 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 4BQ.
Company number: OC367686 England. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
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