Earlier this month, EPIC agreed to sell the entirety of its property portfolio to a subsidiary of S&P 500 constituent Realty Income for £200.8m, prior to agreed deductions of approximately £4m.
Ediston Property agrees to £200m sale of property portfolio
At the trust’s general meeting held earlier today (26 September), the ordinary resolution to approve the disposal was duly passed by way of a poll, with 92.58% of votes in favour.
Completion of the sale is expected to occur on 28 September, after which a further announcement will be made.
Today’s decision comes after a strategic review was launched by EPIC on 16 March into whether the trust should merge with another REIT or sell its portfolio assets and return proceeds to shareholders, due to it attracting fewer assets than had been expected.
Last month, EPIC confirmed it was in talks with Realty Income to sell its property portfolio. At that time, the trust said it expected to get £152.2m out of the deal, or 72p per share. This represents a 17.7% premium on its share price of 61.2p upon the launch of the strategic review.
Ediston Property Investment Company proposes merger or liquidation
However, the deal also represents a 10.8% discount to the most recent net asset value per share of 80.77p, which was published on 30 June.
Launched in 2014, the trust’s portfolio of 11 retail warehouses is currently managed by Danny O’Neill and Calum Bruce.
