9 May 2023

AEW UK REIT plc

Disposal of Industrial Holding in Deeside ahead of Valuation

AEW UK REIT plc (LSE: AEWU) ("AEWU" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed the sale of its industrial holding at Deeside Industrial Estate for £4,750,000, reflecting a capital value of circa £49 per sq ft.

The 96,597 sq ft industrial unit, known as Excel 95, was acquired in July 2017 for £4,310,000 (circa £45 per sq ft), reflecting a 7.9% net initial yield. The property was let to Magellan Aerospace, until they vacated in July 2022, paying a £250,000 dilapidations settlement. The Company has disposed of the vacant asset to an owner-occupier, with the price reflecting a circa 8% premium to the 31 March 2023 valuation. By disposing of the asset, the Company has also avoided a speculative refurbishment project costing approximately £1 million.   

Following completion of the sale, the Company will have approximately £9.6 million to deploy on an attractive pipeline of higher yielding assets, which will be more accretive to the Company's earnings.

Laura Elkin, Portfolio Manager, AEW UK REIT plc, commented: "This disposal is yet another example of our successful strategy in action. Rather than carry out a lengthy refurbishment programme, we have taken the decision to recycle capital into attractive assets from our pipeline, which are expected to deliver a more accretive performance in the future. We expect to make further announcements in this respect in the coming months."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

About AEW UK REIT plc

 
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 UK Listing 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 €84.9bn of assets under management as at 31 December 2022. AEW has over 850 employees, with its main offices located in Boston, London, Paris and Hong Kong 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 2022, AEW managed €38.5bn of real estate assets in Europe on behalf of a number of funds and separate accounts. AEW has over 470 employees based in 12 locations across Europe and has a long track record of successfully 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 over €21bn of real estate across European markets.

www.aew.com

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 SA, 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.