Secure Property Development & Investment PLC/ Index: AIM / Epic: SPDI / Sector: Real Estate

26 August 2022

Secure Property Development & Investment PLC

('SPDI' or 'the Company')

Conversion of loan to equity in Romanian Logistics Joint Venture

Secure Property Development and Investment PLC (AIM: SPDI), the South Eastern European focused property and investment company, announces that it has signed an agreement to convert €2,5m of the loan it had extended in 2017 to Myrian Nes Ltd ("Myrian Nes"), the logistics properties owner and developer in Romania ("Olympians Loan" - for further details see announcement dated 10 October 2017), into a 50% equity stake of a joint venture company ("JV Company") with Myrian Nes. The objective of this JV Company, which Myrian Nes is contributing €2,5m in equity funds to, is to develop a portfolio of logistics properties in Romania with a view of letting them to third party tenants in a market that has very low vacancy and has shown substantial strength and resilience in recent years. The remaining part of the Olympians Loan, (being a total of €3,8m as at 31 December 2021 and before the equity conversion) is being repaid in regular intervals and is expected to be fully repaid to the Company by the end of 2022.  

Myrian Nes is an established and experienced logistics properties developer and operator in Romania, having developed more than 200,000 square meters of such properties, including SPDI's existing logistics terminal in Bucharest, the Innovations Logistics Park. Myrian Nes has partnered with several international institutional property investors in recent years, including GE Capital ('GEC') and CTP. The partnership with SPDI opens a new window of opportunity for both partners to exploit synergies in a property market that they have both been profitably active in for a long time. SPDI expects to be able to generate further value through converting part of its loan into an equity stake in such joint venture, which it expects to soon grow in tandem with the market demand and the anticipated rental and yield trends.

The transaction complements SPDI's existing logistics properties position in Romania, the only property type sector not contributed to Arcona Property Fund (as announced on 28 June 2022), that includes the 15,000 sqm Innovations Terminal, the cold storage component of which is fully let to Favorite srl, the Carrefour 3PL third party service provider, while the ambient component is partly let to clients including Terra and Chipita. The terminal is generating an annual net operating income of ~€840,000.

SPDI CEO, Lambros Anagnostopoulos, commented: "The conversion to equity of part of the loan SPDI extended in 2017 to Myrian Nes, with a view of investing in the development of a logistics portfolio, both strengthens the Company's ability to generate further value for its shareholders and facilitates the eventual monetisation of such value. Myrian Nes operates in one of Europe's fastest growing economies in the strategically important South East corner of the EU, further giving SPDI exposure to the Romanian property market. Together with the recent closing of Stage 2 of the Arcona Transaction, that resulted in SPDI owning more than 25% of Arcona Property Fund N.V. shares, the current transaction consolidates SPDI's investments into equity positions in third party managed property companies."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.secure-property.eu or contact:

Notes to Editors

Secure Property Development and Investment plc is an AIM listed property development and investment company focused on the South East European markets.  The Company's strategy is focused on generating healthy investment returns principally derived from: the operation of income generating commercial properties and capital appreciation through investment in high yield real estate assets.  The Company is focused primarily on commercial and industrial property in populous locations with blue chip tenants on long term rental contracts.  The Company's senior management consists of a team of executives that possess extensive experience in managing real estate companies both in the private and the publicly listed sector, in various European countries.