Supermarket REIT has announced its intention to raise £100m via a share issue to prepare the ground for a series of high-value acquisitions.

The real estate investment trust, which specialises in rental income from grocery property and now has a portfolio worth £1.1bn, has identified 13 targets worth £414m.

This week it issued millions of new shares worth 106p, which represents a discount of 3.2% per share as of close of play on Wednesday. Four assets worth in the region of £230m are the immediate priority as the company continues to take an aggressive approach. It has spent more than £518m on 19 separate transactions since July last year.

Supermarket REIT has targeted stores that also act as warehouses for rapidly-growing online operations (omichannel supermarkets) and unsurprisingly company chairman Nick Hewson was bullish about the sector as a long-term proposition with grocery sales growing £13bn (11% rise) in 2020.

“Omnichannel supermarket property has proven to be highly robust as demonstrated by our 100 per cent rent collection in 2020 and growing investor interest in the grocery property sector,” said Nick.

“Since its IPO in 2017, the company has carefully grown its investment portfolio to over £1 billion through accretive and selective acquisitions, whilst delivering investors a stable and growing income return.

“With an attractive pipeline of assets in place, this fundraise will enable the company to continue to execute on a number of transactions that meet our stringent criteria, building on its strong track record by investing in additional key omnichannel properties let to some of the UK’s largest supermarket operators.”