Augusta Industrial Fund's expansion offer

The 4.1ha heavy industrial complex 5 & 21 Beach Rd, Otahuhu. Photo / Supplied

The second stage of an industrial fund established and managed by Augusta Funds Management has opened for investment which will enable a further five properties to be added to its portfolio - taking the fund's total value to close to $300 million.

A total of 105m $1 ordinary shares are being offered in Augusta Industrial Fund Limited (Augusta Industrial) to provide sufficient capital to buy four industrial properties in Auckland and one Christchurch for $173.8m.

Shares are available in multiples of 1000 with a $10,000 minimum investment and are forecast to provide a pre-tax cash return of 6.5 per cent in the March 2019 and 2020 financial years.

The offering, which closes on March 22, is being marketed by Mike Houlker, Samara Phillips and Sarah Prebble of Bayleys' Syndication and Investment Products division. "Augusta Industrial is all about diversification, providing a wide spread of tenant and location risk in an asset class that is currently outperforming other commercial property sectors," says Houlker. "A key objective is to deliver a sustainable and stable income return plus the potential for capital growth.

"Unlike many property funds and other investments, Augusta Industrial makes distributions on a monthly basis which is particularly helpful for smaller investors who have recurring monthly outgoings."

The 5.6ha road frontage property valued at $36.36m at 116-152 Swanson Rd, Henderson. Photo / Supplied

Augusta Industrial is a limited liability company that was established in April 2018 as an open-ended, unlisted property fund, initially consisting of three Auckland properties and one in Wellington.

"The original $75 million share offer was oversubscribed when it closed in June last year with many investors missing out," says Augusta Industrial chair Mark Petersen. "Within a short time period, the value of these assets has grown to $121.64 million from a total purchase price of $114,074,000.

"The shortage of good quality industrial opportunities should ensure industrial property values remain well underpinned."

The Augusta Industrial portfolio of nine properties, including the five new properties located in Albany, Henderson, Mt Wellington and Otahuhu in Auckland as well as the Castle Rock Business Park in Christchurch, is currently independently valued at $296.7m. It will have a total of 47 tenants occupying a net lettable area of 175,137sq m, with a 99 per cent occupancy.

Petersen says Augusta Industrial will continue to look for opportunities to grow its portfolio and maintain a gearing target of 35-40 per cent which may increase to 45 per cent on acquisition of new properties on a short-term basis. "Assets will continue to be strategically selected for their ability to contribute to a blended fund weighted average lease term of around six years along with their potential to add value."

Petersen says Augusta Industrial may look to list on the NZX Main Board at some stage. "However, we do not think it is appropriate to consider a listing for Augusta Industrial at this point given current market conditions," he says.

The offering's Product Disclosure statement cautions that no guarantee is given that Augusta Industrial will be listed in the future. It also cannot be listed on the NZX without shareholder approval.

The fully leased properties being acquired in the second stage of the industrial fund, which will further increase its tenant and location diversification, comprise:

The 3ha property with three fully leased industrial buildings at 510 Mt Wellington Highway, Mt Wellington. Photo / Supplied

265 Albany Highway, Rosedale, Albany: With a purchase price of $20.1m, this property comprises four modern standalone buildings totalling 5504sq m on a 1.69ha site within the North Harbour Industrial Estate. There are five tenancies with a weighted average lease term of just over five years.

There is an area of surplus land to the rear of the largest building leased by anchor tenant Good Health Products which Houlker says could have development potential subject to future demand and financial viability.

116-152 Swanson Rd, Henderson: A 5.6ha property valued at $36.36m with an extensive 192m of road frontage to one of Henderson's main vehicular thoroughfares. It has 26,755sq m of industrial buildings occupied by five tenants, including a substantial freestanding high stud warehouse completed in 2011 and located at the road frontage.

Long established tenant Blue Star Group is the largest occupant. A portion of surplus land, which could be developed, is positioned on the north-western periphery of the property.

510 Mt Wellington Highway, Mount Wellington: A 3ha property with three fully leased industrial buildings plus a Z Energy service station, totalling 18,827sq m, valued at $37.95m.

The property is leased to four substantial tenants, says Phillips. "In addition to Z Energy, the tenants are infrastructure construction company McConnell Dowell, the ASX listed hardware distributor Dicker Data, and multinational automotive parts supplier Repco which uses the largest building as its distribution centre".

"The property is located in a prominent position with three road frontages in the middle of one of Auckland's most sought-after industrial suburbs and also has surplus land on the eastern side of the site".

5 & 21 Beach Rd, Otahuhu: A 4.1ha heavy industrial complex in a prominent corner position with two standalone factory warehouses and ancillary buildings totalling 22,757sq m. It is valued at $25.65m.

Fletcher Building's Steel Group Ltd leases 5 Beach Rd with over 12 years remaining on its term while 21 Beach Rd is leased to Pacific Steel, New Zealand's only manufacturer of wire rod, reinforcing bar and coil products. It has a new seven-year term agreed from June 2019 with a rent increase from $1,088,221 to $1,190,458 in June 2020 and fixed 2.5 per cent annual rent increases from 2021 to lease expiry.

Castle Rock Business Park, Mary Muller Drive, Hillsborough, Christchurch: A 7.95ha modern industrial park which has a purchase price of $53,758,095.

Phillips says the business park is in a popular eastern Christchurch industrial suburb between Lyttelton Port and the Christchurch CBD. "Built in stages from the early 2000s, it has attracted 15 well known tenants across its 13 buildings providing significant diversification of income.

The 7.95ha modern industrial Castle Rock Business Park in Christchurch. Photo / Supplied

"Value add opportunities also exist as the low 41 per cent site coverage on this large land area, which is in a single title, allows for future development and possible subdivision."

Augusta Funds Management's parent company, NZX listed Augusta Capital is a cornerstone investor in Augusta Industrial and will continue to hold at least 10 per cent of its shares, subscribing for a minimum of 10.5m shares in the offering.

"This means Augusta Capital's interests are aligned with the fund's shareholders and there is a significant incentive to ensure the fund is performing well," says Mark Francis, Augusta's managing director and a director of Augusta Industrial.

"The growth in the Augusta Industrial Fund further evidences the execution of Augusta's strategy to develop and grow a range of multi-asset funds in order to be New Zealand's most diverse and respected institutional grade property funds management business across multiple sectors in both listed and unlisted platforms."

Francis says Augusta Industrial's strategy for the acquisition of properties is focused on assets with strong property fundamentals such as closeness to key infrastructure, strong tenant covenants and long term leases or the ability to convert to long lease terms. It is also generally targeting properties which have leases with fixed rent increases or, where possible, negotiating new leases with fixed rent increases.

"Each property is actively managed by Augusta Funds Management in order to maintain or increase property values and achieve growth in rental income," says Francis.

Established in 2003, Augusta Funds Management specialises in shared ownership structures with approximately $1.8b of property assets under management across New Zealand and in Australia on behalf of over 3500 investors.

Augusta Funds Management will provide asset management, development and project management, treasury and financial management and legal and compliance services for Augusta Industrial. Bayleys Property Services will provide day-to-day property and facilities management services.

Augusta Industrial is being structured as a Portfolio Investment Entity (PIE) with tax deducted at an investor's prescribed tax rate up to a maximum of 28 per cent.

Applications for shares can be made via a Product Disclosure Statement available from Bayleys or by visiting www.augustaindustrialfund.co.nz

Details on how the forecast pre-tax return is calculated and the risks associated with the investment can also be found in the Product Disclosure Statement.