Acquisition of Sprucefield Retail Park, Lisburn

NewRiver is pleased to announce the acquisition of Sprucefield Retail Park, Lisburn from Intu Properties plc for £40.0 million, representing a net initial yield of 8.7%. The acquisition will generate an additional £3.7 million of annualised Net Property Income for NewRiver, which will be highly accretive to Underlying Funds From Operations and significant in improving dividend cover, which is the Company's key priority.

Sprucefield Retail Park is one of Northern Ireland's leading out-of-town retail destinations and is located just one mile south of Lisburn city centre, adjacent to the main junction between Northern Ireland's M1 motorway and the A1 road, which is the main route connecting Northern Ireland to the Irish Republic. The 47-acre site comprises a five-unit retail park providing 231,000 sq of retail space, a 1,200-space free car park and 18 acres of development land. The retail park is anchored by Sainsbury's and B&Q, and has an affordable average rent of £16.11 per sq ft, with a weighted average unexpired lease term of 7.5 years.

In addition to benefitting from an attractive entry price with a yield of 8.7% and a capital value per sq ft of £19 across the site, NewRiver has identified significant opportunities to extract value from the asset, through active asset management and the disposal of parcels of land for development. Proposed asset management initiatives include letting a vacant unit at the asset, for which negotiations have already begun with prospective tenants, and right-sizing units to increase the sustainability of income and diversify the retail offer. The gross asset value subject to this transaction is £40.0 million, and this will be satisfied from existing resources and available credit facilities.

Allan Lockhart, Chief Executive commented: "This high-quality asset will generate £3.7 million of annualised Net Property Income, which will be highly accretive to Underlying Funds From Operations and significant in improving our dividend cover, which is our key priority. In addition to an attractive long-term income return, the development land offers the opportunity to deliver significant capital growth, leading to a very attractive total return. Our successful disposal programme in this financial year places us in a position to take advantage of current market dislocations and make highly accretive acquisitions such as Sprucefield Retail Park and the recently-acquired Poole Retail Park."

For further information

Tom Loughran, Head of Investor Relations (NewRiver)
+44 (0)20 3328 5800

Lucy Mitchell, Director of Communications & PR (NewRiver)                       
+44 (0)20 3328 5800

Gordon Simpson/James Thompson (Finsbury)                                                 
+44 (0)20 7251 3801

About NewRiver

NewRiver REIT plc (‘NewRiver’) is a leading Real Estate Investment Trust specialising in buying, managing and developing essential retail and leisure assets throughout the UK.

Our £1.1 billion portfolio covers 9 million sq ft and comprises 33 community shopping centres, 24 conveniently located retail parks and around 700 community pubs. We hand-picked our assets to deliberately focus on occupiers providing essential goods and services, and avoid structurally challenged sub-sectors such as department stores, mid-market fashion and casual dining. This focus, combined with our affordable rents and desirable locations, delivers sustainable and growing returns for our shareholders, while our active approach to asset management and inbuilt 2.6 million sq ft development pipeline provide further opportunities to extract value from our portfolio.

NewRiver has a Premium Listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (ticker: NRR). Visit www.nrr.co.uk for further information.

LEI Number: 2138004GX1VAUMH66L31