LONDON, UK: Sirius Real Estate, the leading owner and operator of branded business and industrial parks providing conventional space and flexible workspace in Germany and the U.K., has announced the acquisitions of two business parks, one in Köln (Cologne) and the other in Göppingen, for a total acquisition cost of approximately €40 million (£34 million).

The acquisitions have been made using the proceeds of November’s £147 million (€165 million) capital raise.

This follows on from the three UK acquisitions in North London at the end of last year for £33.5 million.   The two recently notarised business parks in Germany add just under 55,000 sqm of primarily light industrial and production space to the Group’s c. 1.9 million sqm German portfolio.

The business park in Köln, Germany’s fourth largest city, in Nord-Rhein Westphalia, comprises 19,114 sqm of principally light industrial space. The property has been notarised at a price of €20.0 million and currently generates total rental income of €1.67 million and an annualised net operating income of €1.56 million, representing a gross yield at acquisition of 8.4% and an EPRA net initial yield of 7.3%. The site has an occupancy rate of just over 89%, with a weighted average unexpired lease term (“WAULT “) of 2.4 years and a well-diversified, stable tenant structure. The park offers a number of strong value add opportunities to drive rental growth, including accessible under-renting which Sirius has identified.

In Göppingen, a city in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south east of Stuggart in southern Germany, Sirius is acquiring a multi-tenanted business park with a total lettable area of approximately 35,160 sqm across primarily light industrial and production space. The acquisition has been notarised at €19.8 million and generates total rental income of €1.78 million and an annualised net operating income of €1.47 million, reflecting a gross yield of 9.0% and an EPRA net initial yield of 6.9%.  With occupancy at around 86% and a WAULT of 2.8 years, the property offers the opportunity for Sirius to use its platform to improve occupancy, income and service charge recovery.

Both business parks are situated in highly desirable micro-locations within well established light industrial zones, and benefit from good transport networks and connectivity. The Köln asset will be the fourth business park owned and operated by the Company on the edge of Köln and the Göppingen site will be the tenth asset in the area surrounding Stuttgart. The proximity to other Sirius sites will enable the Company to leverage a number of operational synergies alongside its local market expertise.

Andrew Coombs, Chief Executive Officer of Sirius Real Estate, commented: “These acquisitions provide the Company with strong day one cash flow from a stable, diversified tenant base and align well with our strategy of curating a range of flexible out-of-town light industrial products that we expect to appeal to the local market. Acquired at attractive yields, these sites offer under-rented space and an opportunity to reduce vacancy and improve cashflow, providing a range of avenues for Sirius to leverage its UK and German operating platforms to generate significant value creation and to grow net operating income over the medium term.

“We are making good progress on our pipeline of further acquisitions, with the benefit of a strong cash position following our well supported £147 million equity raise in November. We currently have €78 million of proceeds committed to legally binding acquisitions, €38 million of which has already been completed. We are in an advanced stage of discussions with over €70 million of additional opportunities across Germany and the U.K. and we expect to deploy the remaining fundraise proceeds in the coming months.”