Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has advised Secure Income REIT plc on the acquisitions of two substantial portfolios of assets at a total cost of £436 million. The portfolios comprise a leisure portfolio including Manchester Arena, The Brewery at Chiswell Street, EC1 (the largest catered events space in the City of London), 18 freehold pubs and 17 Travelodge hotels, together with a hotels portfolio consisting of a further 59 Travelodge sites. The acquisitions are conditional on a placing of new shares to institutional investors targeting gross proceeds of up to £315.5 million, on which BLP also advised.

Martin Moore, non-executive chairman of the company, said: “Secure Income REIT has been a beneficiary of being an early mover into this market with its NAV per share more than doubling since float in 2014 but we believe this has further to run. The weight of cash seeking well-let index-linked property is in our judgment far in excess of the stock currently available on the market, which continues to put upward pressure on prices.”

The transaction was led by BLP Corporate Finance partners Benjamin Lee and Richard Werner.

Richard Werner commented: “This was a really exciting transaction to be involved with.  It was a significant achievement to bring the deal to fruition in line with a challenging timetable.  Doing so enabled Secure Income REIT to announce two substantial off-market acquisitions and an associated capital raise simultaneously and at the same time as the company’s annual results and in so doing to continue the implementation of its business plan.”

The BLP team for the acquisitions included Corporate Finance senior associate Marie Johnson along with associates Victoria Watt and Scarlett Evans.  Senior associate Matt Oliver advised on the placing.

This is the second equity capital markets transaction on which a joint BLP and Bryan Cave team has advised this month and follows the announcement that the firms will be merging to form Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP in April. Bryan Cave Partner Kenneth Henderson and Counsel Andrew Rodman provided US securities law advice.

BLP acted for Secure Income REIT on its IPO in 2014 and has advised the company on all of its significant corporate transactions since, including a secondary placing of shares representing 61.4% of the company’s issued share capital in March 2016 and a £196 million acquisition and related £140 million placing in September 2016.