AXA Belgium and Befimmo have entered into an agreement, subject to conditions, on the acquisition by Befimmo of a right in rem to a 99-year leasehold on the Arts 56 building, for an amount of €116m, in line with the fair value determined by an independent real-estate expert. The deed of sale of the leasehold could be signed during the first quarter of the 2018 fiscal year.
The Arts 56 building is a perfect fit for Befimmo's strategy, with high visibility on the Brussels inner ring road; it offers a range of services and facilities (such as shared meeting rooms, a restaurant, showers, etc.) that meet the current and future needs of office occupants. The building is located in the European district of Brussels, near the Square de Meeûs, the Place du Luxembourg, and benefits from excellent transport links.
The building, totalling 21,000 m² of office space, is currently let to a dozen leading tenants on the basis of 3/6/9-year leases. The occupancy rate is 98%. The gross annual rent amounts to €5.2m (gross current yield of 4.5%).
If this transaction goes ahead, the spot occupancy rate of the properties available for lease and the weighted average duration of the leases would be 93.91% and 7.83 years respectively, compared with 93.86% and 7.95 years respectively (based on data as at 30 September 2017). The EPRA earnings per share would increase by some €0.161 in the first full year. The LTV ratio would increase from 37.48% to 40.27% (based on data as at 30 September 2017).
