Fyffes' spin-off buys €10m industrial building

Fyffes spin-off Blackrock International Land is "actively pursuing" further property deals to follow the €10 million transaction it announced yesterday.

The Irish Stock Exchange-listed property investment vehicle announced that it had bought a large industrial premises in Santry, Dublin for a total outlay of €10 million, including costs.

Commenting on the deal yesterday, Blackrock chairman Carl McCann said it brought total investment since the group's listing to €38.5 million, increasing gross property assets in the period by almost 20 per cent. "A number of additional transactions are being actively pursued at this time," Mr McCann added.

The Santry property is in Woodford Business Park. It consists of a 6,190sq m facility on approximately 1.36 hectares and includes 1,210sq m of office space.

The building is not occupied, but a spokesman said Blackrock was confident it could let it quickly. "There is a lot of activity in the area," he said.

Rent yields for properties of this nature are about 5-6 per cent. However, sources suggest investors have been finding it difficult to let industrial buildings in recent months, partly because many companies prefer to build or buy their own premises and use them as pension fund investments.

Shareholders in fruit importer Fyffes voted to spin off Blackrock International Land from the core business in May. It paid €83 million for 40 per cent of the company while its equity holders got the remaining 60 per cent.

The company controls Fyffes' original property portfolio and has been expanding this since last summer's split.

In September, it pledged that it would spend €200 million on buying properties over the next two years at a rate of €100 million every 12 months.