Ediston Property Investment Company plc (the “Company“) is an investment company whose ordinary shares are listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Until 29 September 2023, the Company carried on business as a real estate investment trust (“REIT“) investing in UK commercial property.  On 29 September 2023 the Company completed the sale (the “Disposal“) of the entirety of the EPIC Group’s property portfolio to RI UK 1 Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Realty Income, for a total gross aggregate cash consideration of £196.8 million (comprising headline consideration of £200.8 million less agreed deductions of £4.0 million).

The board of directors of the Company (the “Board“) intends to seek shareholder approval for the voluntary liquidation of the Company with the aim of distributing the Company’s net assets (which comprise of cash) to shareholders by the end of 2023, unless an appropriate corporate opportunity is identified in the meantime which, in the view of the Board (having consulted with key shareholders), merits further consideration. The Board will only recommend an alternative corporate opportunity if it reasonably believes that such opportunity would offer shareholders greater benefit than a simple return of capital. In the absence of such an opportunity, the Board intends to seek shareholder approval for voluntary liquidation following finalisation of the completion balance sheet in relation to the Disposal. The Board intends to maintain the current level of dividend, with monthly dividend payments of 0.4167 pence per ordinary share to be made to shareholders until the proposed liquidation date.

This webpage and the other pages of this website contain information about the Company and its corporate affairs, including details of the investment objective, policy and strategy and sustainability policy and targets which were pursued by the Company until the completion of the Disposal. Users of this website should bear in mind that the Disposal has been completed, the Company ceased to satisfy the conditions of the UK REIT regime and ceased to benefit from the tax treatment afforded by UK REIT status from the date of completion of the Disposal, and that the Board intends to seek shareholder approval for the voluntary liquidation of the Company with the aim of distributing the Company’s net assets (which comprise of cash) to shareholders by the end of 2023, unless an appropriate corporate opportunity is identified in the meantime which, in the view of the Board (having consulted with key shareholders), merits further consideration.

Investment objective

We invest in UK real estate assets to achieve our objective of providing shareholders with an attractive level of income and the potential for capital and income growth.

Investment policy

We achieve our investment objective by investing in a diversified portfolio of UK commercial properties.

We are able to invest, inter alia, in the three principal commercial property sectors: office, retail (including retail warehouses) and industrial, without regard to a property relative return benchmark.

Investment strategy

We target ‘core’ and ‘core-plus’ assets with lot sizes ranging from £10 million to £50 million and a net yield over the holding period of more than 6.5%.

We acquire assets that offer opportunities to add value through our intensive and entrepreneurial approach to asset management. These are often are non-institutional assets that we will transform into institutional-grade.

Following a strategy review in 2021, for the foreseeable future, given its attractive investment potential, we will focus on the retail warehouse sector. Our team has extensive knowledge and expertise as an investor, developer and asset manager of UK retail warehouse assets.

How we generate shareholder value

Intensive and entrepreneurial asset management
Our team aims to deliver value through a unique and focused style of managing assets. We have a resource-driven platform to identify opportunities to add value within each asset.

Often, several members of our team work together to set and execute the business plan, drawing on their different skill sets. To ensure we focus on exploiting the asset management opportunities, we generally adopt a ratio of three to five assets per surveyor.

Industry expertise
Our team has an extensive network of market-facing contacts and a high level of well-informed, market-aware expertise. This enables us to identify assets that will deliver attractive returns.

Disciplined approach
We select our investments based on a thorough assessment of the opportunities. Our aim is to find properties that are either mispriced or offer the potential to add value through active asset management. We always appraise cash flow before bricks and mortar.

Diverse portfolio
Our investment risk is spread across a variety of assets with a diverse range of tenants, lease lengths and covenant strengths. Investment risks can also be managed by geographical areas and sectors. However, although we can invest in all the principal commercial property sectors, we do not diversify for diversification’s sake. There is no constraint in the prospectus limiting the maximum weighting in any of the principal property sectors. Instead, we always focus on asset performance.

For more on the Company’s investment policy and investment restrictions
please see the Company Prospectus

What makes us different?

Targeted investing
Our investment policy is not benchmark-driven. We seek to identify assets that are mispriced, through a detailed analysis of risk and the property fundamentals, combined with our in-depth knowledge of the local occupational market. We look to acquire assets that we can improve to institutional-grade property.

The investment policy is not rigidly benchmarked against a traditional property index. Rather than pursuing benchmark-relative performance, we believe that it is more important to create a sustainable portfolio in which each asset can ultimately offer strong and potentially improving cash flow.

We aim to achieve our investment strategy by targeting ‘core-plus’ properties with a net yield, during the hold period, in excess of 6.5%.

Unlocking value
The ability to unlock value is key to delivering superior returns. We have a well- resourced investment manager who seeks to identify value-adding opportunities for each asset.

We have a generous ratio of property to surveyor, which ensures that all asset  management initiatives can be identified and properly followed through to execution. Generally, three to five projects are allocated to each surveyor, but given the diverse skillset of the team, it is usual to have more than the one member of the team involved on a project.

This ensures we know how the assets ‘live and breathe’, how they fit into the location and economic environment and what opportunities and risks exist beyond general market movements. It is then all about assessing the quality of, and risks to, the cash flow. In our opinion, successful property investment is about cash flow first and bricks and mortar second.

Experienced and well advised
Our investment manager has a wealth of experience in the real estate sector. The senior directors have significant institutional fund management experience, and the rest of the team has strong property company and developer experience covering all sectors of the UK market.

The entire team has a strong track record of improving the value of our assets through intensive and entrepreneurial asset management.