Cork and Dublin-focused Yew Grove Reit eyes €125m property acquisition pipeline

Commercial and industrial property investor Yew Grove Reit - which has properties in Cork, Dublin and Athlone - has said it has identified €125m worth of potential property acquisitions for the next 12 months and is currently in advanced discussions regarding €60m worth of those.

The company said its pipeline of purchases "looks very encouraging", with the discussions which are already underway being "at a more advanced stage".

Yew Grove has spent all of the €75m it raised from its dual Dublin and London flotations last year and has drawn down €48m from a €50m debt facility. It recently raised €10m from the first tranche of a 12-month 100 million share issue programme. The continuation of that programme will cover acquisition costs.

In the first half of the year Yew Grove spent €11.5m on two properties and acquired three more since the end of June for €13m.

They boosted rent roll for the year to date to €8m. The company generated revenues of €5.7m in the first half of the year and net income of €3.3m.

Yew Grove said that while it expects short-term Brexit uncertainty to hit investor confidence, prices and values, it doesn't feel even a no-deal Brexit would have a hugely negative effect on the office and industrial property market here.

"Ireland is much more dependent on the US and wider European markets for exports of goods and services that are minimally dependent on, or exposed to, the UK. Our current portfolio is specifically selected to avoid tenants dependent on the UK," said chairman Barry O'Dowd.