Custodian REIT acquires £35.9m diversified portfolio via Grove Court Properties corporate deal

Custodian Property Income REIT acquired the entire issued share capital of Grove Court Properties (Holdings) Limited on 13 February 2026. The portfolio of seven mixed-use assets (average lot size £5.3m) includes motor trade, office, residential, leisure, and high street retail properties, all located near the M25 east of Greater London. The corporate acquisition structure eliminated SDLT, saving approximately £0.2m net. 24,116,729 new CREI shares were admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange on 18 February 2026. Custodian Capital Limited manages the REIT and sourced this "family office" acquisition as part of a stated strategy to grow via corporate acquisitions of family property companies. Richard Shepherd-Cross (Managing Director, Custodian Capital) described a healthy pipeline of similar opportunities. The consideration was paid via £9m cash on completion and approximately 24.9m new CREI ordinary shares issued at adjusted NAV (approximately £26.9m value). Resulting combined net gearing is 26%, in line with target LTV of approximately 25%.