Real Estate Investors sells quartet of properties for £10m

Real Estate Investors has offloaded a quartet of properties for almost £10 million.

The AIM-listed property investment company has exchanged contracts on sites in Birmingham, West Bromwich, Coseley and Leicester.

Budget supermarket brand Aldi has acquired the freehold of one of its stores in Bearwood, Birmingham, for £5.35 million which is an increase of £1.29 million on its valuation at the end of last year.

As part of the sale agreement, REI negotiated an extended completion date of September 2021 so will continue to receive rent of £300,000 per year until this date.

REI has also sold empty office blocks 315-317 and 319 High Street, in West Bromwich, for £625,000 to an unnamed purchaser.

Land at Coseley, near Dudley, has been sold for a minimum of £1.15 million, with a potential additional £350,000, subject to the completion of a local authority grant application by the purchaser Countryside Properties.

Finally, City Gate House, in Leicester, has been sold for £2.6 million and is due to complete in December, following initial exchange in 2018.

REI has benefitted from the ongoing rental income during the interim period.

Paul Bassi, chief executive of the Birmingham-based group, said: “We are delighted to announce these sales at values at or above our December 2019 year end valuation.

“The sale proceeds will be used to reduce the company’s gearing, allowing us to keep existing cash and bank facilities available to make strategic acquisitions.

“We have identified further assets that could be considered for sale and have experienced a rise in investor demand for certain resilient assets within our portfolio, along with increased occupier demand for our out-of-town office portfolio.

“Looking forward, we remain confident of generating additional capital value across the portfolio through individual asset sales at book value or better.”