Tamar European Industrial Fund has sold an asset in Norway and one in France for a combined consideration of GBP2.8m.
In Norway, the fund has sold a 4,310 sq m light industrial building in Moss, 50 kilometres south of Oslo. The property is 37 per cent let on short-term leases and benefits from a recently granted planning consent for residential redevelopment.
The fund has signed an unconditional agreement for the sale of the special purpose vehicle which owns the asset at a base price of GBP2.48m (NOK22.34m). Additional consideration may become due to the fund dependant on the final number of residential units permitted on the site, with a potential for up to a further GBP0.66m (NOK6m) becoming payable by the purchaser. The base price reflects a 4.4 per cent premium to the September 2012 valuation. The purchaser is a Norwegian house builder and completion is due in February 2013.
In France, the fund has sold a further vacant unit (comprising 864 sq m) at Torcy, 30 kilometres east of Paris. This follows the sale announced in December 2012 and is in line with the strategy to sell the vacant units at this asset. The sale price was GBP0.33m (EUR0.4m), reflecting a 2.75 per cent premium to the September 2012 valuation, and the purchaser was an owner occupier.
Rob Brook, managing director of Tamar Financial Services, investment manager to TEIF, says: “The sale of Moss represents a satisfactory outcome for the Fund for an asset where alternative use value represented the most attractive exit and follows over 12 months of work to achieve the residential planning consent. This was the last remaining asset in the TEIF Norway portfolio and its sale means that we have now successfully disposed of circa 83 per cent (by value) of our Scandinavian assets, in line with our stated investment strategy.
“The disposal of a further vacant unit at Torcy demonstrates the ongoing appetite amongst local owner-occupiers to acquire void space and active marketing of the remaining vacant units continues.”
TEIF was represented by Catella Corporate Finance (Norway) and CBRE (France).