8th Mar 2005 07:00
Wichford plc08 March 2005 8 March 2005 WICHFORD PLC £3.8 million property acquisition Wichford plc ("Wichford" or the "Company"), a property investment company with aportfolio focused on UK investment property outside Central London occupiedexclusively by UK Central Government bodies, today announces that it hasacquired St Katherine's House, Northampton, for £3,885,000 in cash and shares. The property is a 27,830 sq.ft office building which is let to the FirstSecretary of First Secretary of State for 10 years, from 5th June 2003, at acurrent rent of £290,000 per annum. There is a rent review in June 2008. Thepurchase price will be made up of £3.7 million in cash and £185,000 by way ofthe issue to the vendors of 96,404 new ordinary shares in Wichford plc at191.9p. At the above purchase price the net yield on the acquisition is 7.3%. This is the second acquisition Wichford has made in the last week following thepurchase of a property in Manchester for £2.02 million on 4 March. Enquiries Citigate Dewe Rogerson Tel: 020 7638 9571Patrick Toyne-SewellFiona Bradshaw Notes to Editors Wichford plc listed on AIM in August 2004. Assuming completion of the aboveacquisition, the company will have properties under management with a grossasset value of around £210 million generating a rental income of over £14.5million per annum. The company maintains a portfolio of properties across theUK with unit values usually between £3 million and £15 million. The propertiesare occupied by UK Central Government bodies and all are outside Central London.Wichford is seeking to benefit from the Government's commitment to act upon therecommendations of the Lyons Review (March 2004) that about 20,000 public sectorjobs should be relocated outside London and the South-East of England over thenext seven years. The Company's current portfolio has a weighted averageunexpired lease term in excess of 10 years. The company's strategy in the long term is to use funds raised by its listing onAIM to build a significant property portfolio by purchasing up to an additional£125 million of UK Central Government occupied properties and achieve a targetgross value for its portfolio of up to £250 million within 12 to 15 months. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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