Stobart Group HQ sold in £25.5m deal

The new Stobart Group headquarters in Widnes has been sold in a deal worth £25.5m.

The site, which is still under construction, has been bought by property investment firm LXi Reit.

A statement on the purchase was made to the Stock Exchange this morning.

The company acquired the freehold interest in the new Stobart industrial facility and offices which are currently under construction in a sale and leaseback transaction.

The purchase price of £25.5m reflects a net initial yield of 5.5% and was funded by the disposal of two care homes in Leicestershire.

The headquarters have been acquired on an off-market basis, with a new, unbroken 22.5 year lease in place to Stobart Group.

Stobart Group is a FTSE 250 listed company and one of the UK’s leading infrastructure and support service businesses operating in the energy, aviation and rail sectors.

The firm has been caught up in an increasingly bitter boardroom battle which is likely to boil over at next month’s AGM.

Former chief executive Andrew Tinkler was sacked from the board after he launched a bid to oust the current chairman Iain Ferguson.

According to reports Mr Tinkler drew up plans to merge Stobart Group with trucking business Eddie Stobart Logistics, which it split with in 2014.

The merger, which was discussed as recently as last month, would have created a business worth £1.7bn.

LXi Reit said the property is a substantial and strategic industrial holding, extending to over 40 acres.

It will include a new headquarters office for the Stobart Group of 23,000 sq ft, an existing 180,000 sq ft warehouse and 20 further acres of new, hard standing to store and process timber waste, along with HGV parking.

The site is next to the newly operational 28MW Widnes Biomass Plant, which is owned by Stobart Group and the UK Green Investment Bank.

Simon Lee, Partner of LXi REIT Advisors Limited, commented: “This disposal and acquisition reflect our strategy of selectively acquiring long, index-linked properties across sectors where we see value as well as profitably recycling our capital to deliver strong capital growth and secure inflation-linked income to our shareholders.”