Israeli income-producing real estate company Alony Hetz Property and Investments Ltd. (TASE: ALHE) reported today that it had sold 750,000 shares in Swiss income-producing real estate company PSP (1.6% of that that company's capital) for 113.5 million Swiss francs (NIS 400 million).
The sale left Alony Hetz, which will post a NIS 125 million capital gain on the sale in the first quarter of 2020, with a 6.3% stake in PSP.
Alony Hetz, controlled by CEO Nathan Hetz, operates in Israel through its Amot Investments Ltd. (TASE:AMOT) Investments subsidiary, in Washington DC through a partnership in Carr, and in Boston through a partnership with Carr and Oxford Properties. The company also has operations in renewable energy through its Energix Group subsidiary.
Alony Hetz began investing in PSP in 2006, and gradually increased its holding to 15% in 2007. Starting in 2012, Alony Hetz began scaling back its holding in PSP, while simultaneously expanding its activity in the UK and US markets.
Alony Hetz announced last December that it had signed an agreement to acquire a business park located close to the Oxford city center through the Brockton Everlast (BE), in which it holds a 95% stake, for £81 million (NIS 370 million), not including transaction costs.
The business park contains a 16,000-square meter open commercial center located on a 44-dunam (eleven-acre) site. The company says that the park is currently fully leased, with £4 million (NIS 19 million) in annual net operating income (NOI).
This was Alony Hetz's fifth deal in the UK since announcing two years ago its intention of expanding its activity there. Alony Hetz said at the time that it wanted to invest up to £340 million (NIS 1.6 billion) in BE, together with the senior partners in the Brockton funds group. BE will acquire, develop, upgrade, construct, manage, and maintain commercial income-producing real estate in the UK, with a focus on metropolitan London.
Alony Hetz's share is down 2% in today's trading. The share price has climbed 46% in the past year, pushing the company's market cap up to NIS 9.8 billion.
Alony Hetz reported last month that it had signed an agreement to acquire half of the ownership in a 73,000-square meter complex (two office buildings in Boston) at a value of $485,000 for the two buildings. The occupancy rate in the complex is 89%, and it generates $23 million in NOI. Carr believes that NOI from the complex will total $27 million a year in the next five years.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 1, 2020
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