26th Jun 2006 07:01
Workspace Group PLC26 June 2006 WORKSPACE ADDS £20M OF ACQUISITIONS TO CENTRAL LONDON PORTFOLIO Workspace Group PLC ("Workspace"), the leading provider of flexible businessaccommodation to small and medium sized enterprises in London, today announcestwo further acquisitions. The Orient Portfolio This portfolio comprises three small-unit industrial estates located in Leyton,London E10. It is situated within three miles of the new Stratford InternationalRail Terminus and the site of the 2012 Olympics. The total floor space of thethree properties is 210,330 sq.ft with the largest, Leyton Industrial Villagecomprising 148,000 sq ft, together with open yard space with the potential fordevelopment of further new units. The portfolio was purchased for a cashconsideration of £16 million which represents a net initial yield of 5.7%. Theaverage rents of £4.68 per sq.ft are at a significant discount to Workspace'sother sites in the area. With these rent reversions the yield should increase toover 7%. The purchase price equates to £1.85 million per acre. 1 Morie Street, Wandsworth SW18 The second acquisition is located at Morie Street, in Wandsworth, SW18. Theproperty is a modern, small unit office scheme of 22,629 sq ft. It produces anincome of £178,000 pa with 48% of the space remaining vacant. The property waspurchased for a cash consideration of £4.4m, representing an initial yield of3.5%. This is expected to improve to 7.6% on full occupancy at current ERVs. Itis located close to Workspace's existing holdings in the Wandsworth area andextends the range of accommodation that Workspace can offer its customers. Harry Platt, Workspace Chief Executive, commented " We believe that both acquisitions offer substantial scope to grow rentalincome and add value through our style of intensive asset management. " We are particularly excited about the prospects for the three properties inLeyton. We have tracked them for many years. They are very close to the Olympiczone, where we anticipate that there will be an increase in demand due to theregeneration of the area. We believe that as well as increasing rentals at theseproperties there is also significant scope to increase the density ofdevelopment on the site. " We continue to track a range of sites that meet our criteria for acquisition." -ends- Date: 26 June 2006For further information: Workspace Group PLC cityPROFILEHarry Platt, Chief Executive Simon CourtenayMark Taylor, Finance Director Andrew Harris020-7247-7614 020-7448-3244 web: www.workspacegroup.co.uk------------------------------- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Workspace