Primary Health Properties shares were up 0.2% to 151.5p in early morning trading on Monday after the company unveiled its first net zero carbon direct development.

The firm announced that it had signed the deal for a brand new purpose-built facility based in Eastergate, West Sussex, for a reported gross development value of £6.7 million.

Building is scheduled to commence on the project imminently, with completion anticipated for Q2 2023.

The deal is set to increase Primary Health Properties’ portfolio to 523 assets, with a contracted rent roll of over £141 million.

Primary Health Properties will apparently be one of the first UK health facilities to achieve a net-zero rating, and will reportedly achieve net-zero carbon by minimising and offsetting embodied carbon in its construction materials and enabling occupiers to run operations in the building with net zero carbon emissions.

The company purports that its building is set to achieve BREEAM Excellent standards and an EPC rating of A, alongside lowered levels of waste and water use with the addition of responsibly sourced and sustainable materials.

The facility has been designed to include general practice healthcare services, physiotherapy, mental and occupational health, social prescribing, care co-ordination, clinical pharmacy and training for GPs, nurses and paramedics once the building is operational.

“We are delighted to have commenced work on one of the UK’s first NZC healthcare buildings,” said Primary Health Properties CEO Harry Hyman.

“Starting work on our first NZC direct development is a significant achievement and demonstrates our strategic commitment to transitioning all our operational, development and asset management activities to NZC by 2030 and to help our occupiers achieve NZC by 2040 as set out in our recently announced NZC Framework.”

“This development is the first in our strong pipeline of £163 million of direct development opportunities providing short-cycle and de-risked development activity, adding high quality assets to the portfolio and capturing attractive development margins.”

Media and consulting company, Ascential is still exploring the merits of controlled separation of certain group assets according to the company on Monday addressing media speculation about changes to the group’s structure.

Ascential has taken note of recent media speculation about the group’s structure.

Ascential’s Board members examine the best organisational and capital structure for the business regularly to ensure both the successful fulfilment of the group’s plan for the benefit of our customers and the maximisation of shareholder value.

Ascential says that it is still investigating the merits of controlled disposal of some of the group’s assets.

As these conversations are exploratory in nature, the Board may or may not decide to proceed with a controlled separation of these businesses in the future.

However, the Board is committed to open and transparent communication with all of its stakeholders as well as providing additional information as needed.

Ascential shares rebounded on Monday with an increase of 5% to 346p after the company addressed recent media speculations.

Sirius Real Estate shares were up 1.8% to 123.8p in early morning trading on Monday, following reports of €700 million raised through oversubscribed corporate bond issuances and a selection of successful acquisitions in the company’s pre-close trading update for 2021.

The German group announced a like-for-like rent roll increase of 6.4%, alongside a like-for-like occupancy rise to 87.4% throughout its German portfolio, compared to a total occupancy decline in Germany to 84.2%.

The firm announced corporate bond issuances amounting to €700 million, alongside a cash collection rate of over 98%.

Sirius also reported a free cash balance of €126 million and a total annualised rent roll rise to €167.1 million.

The company finished its financial year with €201.9 million invested or committed to ten acquisitions.

Sirius Real Estate Acquisitions

According to Sirius, these assets are projected to contribute around €8.8 million of net operating income at 62% occupancy, representing an EPRA net initial yield of 4.4%.

Sirius Real Estate’s additional acquisitions included a €900,000 building adjacent to its Potsdam asset and a parcel of land at its asset in Neuruppin for €500,000, providing the company with two asset management footholds for its existing sites going forward.

The company also acquired its Magdeburg asset for €13.75 million and grew its titanium venture with AMA IM Alts with the completion of its Ausburg asset for €79.9 million, which is anticipated to add approximately €1.5 million per year in fees and profits from the venture.

Sirius Real Estate entered the UK market through its acquisition of BizSpace in November 2021 for £245 million, based on an enterprise value of £380 million and representing a 7.1% net operating yield.

The firm reported strong trading since its takeover of the business, with like-for-like annualised rent roll rising by 7.5% from £41.9 million to approximately £45.1 million over the initial 4.5 months of operations.

Sirius further noted an occupancy increase to 90.5% from 88.7%, with the average like-for-like rate per square foot rising 6.5% to £11.69 compared to £10.98 encouraging the group’s advancement into opportunities in UK industrial real estate.

“2021 was a transformative year for Sirius marked by two key firsts which saw the Company access the corporate bond market, successfully raising €700 million through two oversubscribed issuances, and the strategic acquisition of BizSpace, providing us with geographic diversification and an established operating platform in the U.K which is already showing positive momentum in terms of growing rents,” said Sirius Real Estate CEO Andrew Coombs.

“However, it would be remiss not to mention market uncertainty created by current geopolitical events which we continue to monitor closely. In the meantime, our thoughts go to everyone impacted by the situation in the Ukraine and we welcome all steps that lead to a cessation of hostilities and an end to the conflict.”

SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEEIT) completed the acquisition of 80% equity interest in Sociedade de Iniciativa e Aproveitamentos Florestais – Energia, S.A. (SIAF) in Mangualde, Portugal from Capwatt for around €22m on Monday.

SEEIT announced in early February, the decision to acquire 80% equity interest in SIAF, the highly efficient operational biomass cogeneration plant, which has been acquired earlier today for €22m.

SEEIT has provided SIAF with an added €15 million to partially repay its existing project finance green bond credit.

SIAF creates heat and electricity from biomass that is sourced sustainably.

On a take-or-pay basis, it provides crucial onsite heat to a Sonae Arauco PT (SAPT) industrial plant that manufactures medium-density fibreboard and it generates energy that benefits from the Portuguese Feed-in-Tariff to the grid.

The project is expected to benefit from at least another 23 years of steady, inflation-linked, contracted cashflows with no risk of demand, giving SEEIT good visibility of returns.

SEEIT’s existing cash reserves were used to support the purchase of SIAF’s equity interest. SIAF’s project finance green bond facility will have a remaining balance of roughly €20m.

SEEIT and Capwatt have signed a Heads of Terms to focus on the collaborative development and purchase of energy efficient projects across Iberia, in addition to the project acquisition.

SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust was the first publicly traded firm in the United Kingdom to invest solely in energy efficiency.

Its projects are primarily located in the United Kingdom, Europe, and North America, and include a portfolio of cogeneration assets in Spain, a portfolio of commercial and industrial solar and storage projects in the United States, a regulated gas distribution network in Sweden and a district energy system providing essential and efficient utility services on one of the country’s largest business parks.

SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust shares gained 0.5% to 121p on Monday following the announcement of completing the acquisition of 80% equity interest in Sociedade de Iniciativa e Aproveitamentos Florestais.

The Weir Group completed the acquisition of Carriere Industrial Supply (CIS), a leading manufacturer and distributor of highly engineered wear parts as well as an aftermarket service provider to the Canadian mining market for £20m on Monday.

Mining buckets and lip systems are among the company’s products, which assist customers to boost productivity by reducing downtime and improving safety.

The transaction had an enterprise value of £20m, after working capital and net debt adjustments, which were paid in cash at the closing of the deal.

Through this deal, Weir Group will be able to expand on a strong partnership with CIS, which has served as ESCO’s Eastern Canadian distributor for many years.

ESCO’s aim of having direct sales channels in major mining markets is attained and its capability in underground hard rock mining applications has increased through this purchase.

CIS has a large presence in gold mines and is adjacent to nickel and lithium reserves, giving it an appealing commodity exposure.

CIS is now a part of the ESCO Division and in the first full year of ownership, the transaction is expected to be profits and margin accretive, with returns expected to exceed the group’s cost of capital.

“The acquisition of CIS aligns with our strategy of providing direct sales and service to our mining customers and builds on our longstanding partnership, while also enhancing our capabilities in underground hard rock mining applications,” said Andrew Neilson, President of Weir’s ESCO Division.

Weir Group shares lost 1.45% to 1,568p in early morning trade on Monday.