Uniphar’s Dublin headquarter offers prime logistics investment at €45m

Investors looking to secure a combination of immediate rental income underpinned by a blue-chip tenant covenant within the strongly performing logistics sector will be interested in the sale of pharmaceutical and medtech giant Uniphar PLC’s headquarter premises in Dublin.

Number 4045 Citywest Business Campus is being offered to the market by BNP Paribas Real Estate by way of a sale and leaseback transaction at a guide price of €45 million. The proposed sale will proceed once Uniphar exercises its option to acquire the property from its current owner, Iput.

Purpose built in 2007, Uniphar’s headquarter facility comprises a large warehouse with 11m clear internal height providing an excellent cubic capacity, and 24 loading doors to the side and rear elevations. The building extends to a gross external area of 21,313 sq m (approximately 230,000 sq ft) on a site of 3.54 hectares (8.8 acres). It includes extensive landscaping, perimeter circulation, a dedicated rear yard and 260 surface car-parking spaces. Twenty-four hour on-site security is provided.

The subject property includes three-storey grade A offices to the front of the site overlooking Kingswood Road, which have been fully refurbished. The property is fully air-conditioned with temperature controls to the warehouse. The warehouse and office split is approximately 78 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.

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The property has been maintained to the highest standards reflecting its function as a headquarter building and the lightweight and high-value nature of the pharmaceutical and healthcare goods passing through the warehouse. Additional works are under way to improve the building energy rating of the property as part of Uniphar’s commitment to improve its ESG credentials. These works include the completion of the lighting system upgrade to LED, the installation of a heat pump and a new VRF air-conditioning system to the offices, along with the delivery of an on-site power source via a 500kw rooftop solar PV system.

Uniphar’s headquarters occupies a prime location in Citywest Business Campus and sits 14km southwest of Dublin city centre. Direct access is available to and from Citywest to the N7 and the M50 motorway while the wider national road network is a six-minute drive from the property. Public transport is available via the Luas (Citywest & Cheeverstown stops) and numerous Dublin Bus routes.

The subject property will be sold by way of a sale-and-leaseback transaction with a new 20-year full repairing “green” lease to Uniphar plc. Uniphar will pay an initial rent of €2.34 million per annum (€10.20 per sq ft) with a fixed 23 per cent rental uplift to €2.87 million per annum (€12.50 per sq ft) in years six to 10. Open-market rent reviews will be set at the end of years 10 and 15 and will feature an investor-friendly collar or maximum decrease in rent of 5 per cent. A tenant break option will be included at end of year 15.

Headquartered in Dublin, the Uniphar Group is an international diversified healthcare services business servicing the requirements of more than 200 multinational pharmaceutical and medical technology manufacturers across three divisions – Uniphar Pharma, Uniphar Medtech and Uniphar Supply Chain & Retail. The group is active in Europe, North America, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Middle East-North Africa (MENA) regions and delivers its products to more than 160 countries.

The Uniphar facility’s guide price of €45 million (subject to contract) reflects a blended yield in years one to 10 of 5.26 per cent and a capital value of €195 per sq ft (after allowing for standard purchaser’s costs).

Peter Flanagan, head of capital markets at BNP Paribas Real Estate says: “The logistics market in Ireland is currently one of the best performing in Europe delivering 6 per cent per annum in average rental growth since 2019. The sale of 4045 Citywest presents an opportunity for investors to gain significant exposure to this exciting market. The proposed lease provides for a defined and well-protected cash flow throughout the long-term lease, with no caps on rental growth or future rental income”.