Posts
My investment in FLT made more than a year ago has done quite well so far and I would have been quite happy to have them keep the status quo.
Of course, that is not how things work in the real world.
FLT is proposing to buy 21 properties in Europe from its sponsor, most of them German and the rest are Dutch.
Germany is Europe's strongest economy and that is one reason why I invested in IREIT Global so many years ago.
So, to me, that is a reason to like FLT's proposal to invest in German properties.
The properties are 100% occupied, are mostly freehold and mostly come with some form of built in rental escalation.
The proposed acquisitions should make FLT more resilient overall, having less concentration risk in terms of geography as well as tenants.
Of course, the most important question to be answered is how is this going to benefit us as retail investors from an income perspective?
After all, it is reasonable to assume that we are investing in FLT for income.
From FLT's presentation, the deal is likely to be yield accretive and NAV per unit is likely to creep upwards too.
So, income investors should approve.
However, it would depend on how the deal is funded and this is key.
We are not talking about buying 1 or 2 buildings here, we are talking about increasing the portfolio value by some 50%.
For a portfolio that is valued at more than a billion dollars, 50% is a big deal.
Even after taking on more debt, there is going to be a big shortfall.
So, there has to be equity fund raising which, of course, is a private placement and/or a rights issue.
Regular readers would know that I very much prefer a rights issue because it would allow retail investors like me to participate in the fund raising exercise as well.
The number of units in issue is going to increase by a third or so to help fund the deal.
There will be both a private placement and a rights issue.
Find the details in the EGM announcement on page 66: HERE.
As long as the deal allows retail investors to participate in the equity fund raising and as long as it is DPU accretive, I am happy enough for now.
See announcement: HERE.
See presentation: HERE.
Related post:
FLT and CRCT.
Bloggy Award