LONDON: Supermarket Income REIT announced the acquisition of a portfolio of supermarkets via a sale and leaseback transaction with Waitrose & Partners for £74.1 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 4.4%.

The portfolio comprises six freehold supermarkets with an average gross internal area of 32,000 sq ft. The stores are let to Waitrose on new 20-year leases with a tenant-only break option in year 15 and are subject to five-yearly, upward-only, CPIH-linked rent reviews (subject to a 3% cap and 1% floor). The stores form a key part of Waitrose’s UK online grocery fulfilment network and offer home delivery and/or click and collect.

Waitrose will continue to trade from the stores as normal with no change from a customer or Waitrose Partner perspective.

Ben Green, Director of Atrato Capital, the Investment Adviser to Supermarket Income REIT, said: “We are very pleased with this transaction. All of the stores have an impressive trading record and are complementary to our existing portfolio, providing further tenant and geographic diversification”.

Full store list:

• Waitrose Eastbourne, High Street, BN21 1HR
• Waitrose Edenbridge, Mont St Aignan Way, TN8 5LN
• Waitrose Ely, Bray’s Lane, CB7 4QJ
• Waitrose Oundle, 66 East Road, PE8 4BZ (1)
• Waitrose Sandbach, Flat Lane, CW11 4BE
• Waitrose Sudbury, Station Road, CO10 2SS

Supermarket Income REIT plc is a real estate investment trust dedicated to investing in grocery properties which are an essential part of the UK’s feed the nation infrastructure. The Company focuses on grocery stores which are omnichannel, fulfilling online and in-person sales. All of the Company’s 16 properties are let to leading UK supermarket operators, diversified by both tenant and geography.

The Company provides investors with attractive, long-dated, secure, inflation-linked, growing income with the potential for capital appreciation over the longer term. The Company targets a 7% to 10% per annum total shareholder return over the medium term(2). The Company has increased its dividend target in line with UK RPI inflation each year and currently has a dividend target for the year ended 30 June 2020 of 5.80 pence per share, payable in quarterly instalments.

The Company’s ordinary shares were admitted to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, Specialist Fund Segment, on 21 July 2017.