RNS Number : 7685J
Roadside Real Estate PLC
28 October 2024
 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

 

Roadside Real Estate PLC

 

("Roadside" or the "Company")

 

Roadside JV acquires 12 stores from Lidl

 

Roadside (AIM: ROAD) is pleased to announce that Roadside Retail Limited, its joint venture with Meadow Real Estate Fund VI LP, ("Meadow Partners") set up to acquire and develop UK-based roadside real estate assets, (the "JV") has signed an agreement with Lidl Great Britain Limited, ("Lidl" and the "Lidl Agreement") to acquire 12 stores (the "Lidl Portfolio") for total consideration of £70 million.

 

Lidl has previously acquired the relevant land, secured planning permission and construction is underway. Completion of the stores is anticipated to range from late October 2024 through to February 2025. Following an initial commitment of £30 million in respect of the land value of the 12 sites, under the Lidl Agreement, upon completion of construction, Lidl will sell, to the JV, and leaseback each of the 12 new stores. The new stores will be on 25-year leases with annual indexation with a fixed rent commencement date of 1 March 2025.

 

The 12 stores, all between 20,000 and 25,000 square feet are evenly spread across the UK and will add to Lidl's existing 960+ store estate, as it continues to be the fastest growing supermarket in the UK.

 

In line with the terms of the JV, which was announced on 31 October 2023, the Company will provide 3.0% of the equity for the acquisition of the Lidl Portfolio, amounting to an initial £450,000 and a total maximum commitment of £2.1 million. This will be funded from Roadside's existing cash resources.

 

This is the JV's fourth and largest deal to date and the JV remains in negotiation on several further site acquisitions as it works to deploy its equity commitment in assets that deliver sustainable returns for investors and valuable amenities to local communities.

 

Commenting on the transaction, Executive Chairman of Roadside, Charles Dickson, said:

"This is a significant transaction for both Lidl and the JV, deploying a substantial portion of our joint venture's targeted investment quantum into high-quality assets with a nationally recognised tenant under strong covenants.

 

"The Lidl portfolio is an excellent example of the JVs strategy in action, rapidly providing targeted capital to enable tenant expansion whilst securing asset management fees and creating additional opportunities for income initiatives."

 

Richard Taylor, Chief Development Officer at Lidl GB, said:

"We have big ambitions for our expansion, which includes plans to open hundreds more Lidl stores in the future. This deal is just the latest example of how we're continuing to expand our footprint across the country, ensuring that even more households can benefit from a Lidl store. We look forward to a long and productive relationship with Roadside, Meadow and the JV"

 

Andrew McDaniel, Founding Partner, Meadow Partners said:

"We are delighted to expand our partnership with Roadside to deploy substantial capital for an institutional-quality portfolio. The acquisition of the Lidl Portfolio is consistent with Meadow's high conviction theme of acquiring long-dated credit income assets trading at historically wide yields in high-quality submarkets on or next to major local thoroughfares. The Lidl portfolio demonstrates the value of Roadside's approach to asset selection and active management strategy and the resilient long-term returns available in this attractive sub-sector of the real estate market. We look forward to continuing to identify attractive opportunities to grow our partnership in the future."

 

George Trimmer, Investment at Savills, added:

"This is an opportunity to forward fund the construction of 12 supermarkets let to Lidl. The foodstores will be let on 25-year leases, which offers both stability and growth, providing a reliable long-term income stream with the added benefit of annual indexation. In addition, the sale and leaseback arrangement offers Lidl GB Limited an excellent opportunity to unlock capital, while retaining operational control."

 

Todd Wu at Mishcon De Reya provided legal advice on the acquisition to the JV with George Trimmer at Savills providing investment advice.

 

- Ends -

 

Enquiries:

 

Roadside Real Estate PLC

Charles Dickson, Executive Chairman

c/o Montfort

 


Montfort

Olly Scott

Bella Leathley

 

 

+44 (0)78 1234 5205

+44 (0)74 7168 7266

Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Nomad and Joint Corporate Broker)

Carl Holmes / Abigail Kelly (Corporate Finance)

Tim Redfern (ECM)

 

+44 (0)20 7220 0500

Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Financial Adviser and Joint Corporate Broker)

Mark Young

Jonathan Wilkes-Green

Catriona Neville

 

 

+44 (0)20 7710 7600

Savills

George Trimmer, Savills Investment

Phoebe Bohana, Savills press office

 

 

+44 (0)75 0836 3273

+44 (0)79 7200 0091

Meadow Partners

c/o Gasthalter & Co.

Mark Semer

Grace Cartwright

 

+1 212 257 4170

meadowpartners@gasthalter.com

 

The Lidl portfolio

The stores in the Lidl portfolio are located in Northampton, Reading, Bristol, Hull, Saffron Walden, Downham Market, Manchester, Alexandria, Birmingham, Crediton, Bovey Tracey and Redcar.

 

About Roadside

Roadside is a real estate business focused on building and scaling a high-quality portfolio of modern roadside retail assets, including modern EV charging infrastructure.

 

About Meadow Partners

Based in New York and London, Meadow Partners is a $6.6 billion vertically integrated real estate investment manager specializing in global middle-market transactions. Since inception in 2009, Meadow has leveraged its unique platform to execute on investment opportunities across multifamily, office, industrial and retail investment on behalf of institutional investors globally. Meadow currently manages a series of commingled opportunistic funds, a perpetual life vehicle, and two core/core-plus separately managed accounts. For more information, please visit www.meadowpartners.com.

 

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