Shaftesbury sees more West End opportunities
Shaftesbury has seen the pace of its acquisition activity speeding up, and today announced a placing of up to 22.7m new shares to take its financial resources for new purchases to around £160m.
The company, which specialises in the West End of London, says further potential acquisitions are emerging in some of its core locations, particularly around Berwick Street. It says debt-burdened investors are motivated to sell, the government and local authorities are under pressure to turn some of their property assets into cash, and transactions delayed from the 2008-2009 downturn are now coming onto the market.
Shaftesbury has invested £40m in new acquisitions since the start of its current financial year in September 2010, compared with £65.3m in the whole of the previous year. The company says the prosperous local economy in the West End has boosted its performance, with strong tenant demand leading to low vacancy levels. It estimates the rental value (ERV) of its vacant and ready-to-let wholly-owned commercial space at £0.8m, equivalent to just 1.1% of its total commercial ERV. In Shaftesbury’s Longmartin joint venture, construction of the St Martin’s Courtyard scheme is now complete and 94% of its commercial space is now let or under offer.
