Listed property investor agrees £415m sale of group
The board of property group A&J Mucklow has agreed the £415m sale of the business to LondonMetric.
The real estate investment trust (REIT) was founded in the West Midlands 86 years ago and its interests remain heavily focused in the region.
The 655.2p-per-share offer will be paid with a mix of £130m cash and shares in the enlarged group worth £285m.
Rupert Mucklow
Shareholders with a combined stake of 39.35% in Mucklow have already agreed to back the deal, believing the combination creates “more resilient and diversified UK-REIT”.
Rupert Mucklow, chairman and chief executive of Halesowen-based Mucklow, is “confident LondonMetric is the right fit for Mucklow”.
He said: “LondonMetric has a complementary portfolio which mirrors Mucklow’s focus on high quality income producing properties and the LondonMetric management team has the necessary expertise to build on the success that Mucklow has achieved over the 57 years it has been a listed company.”
Mucklow was founded in 1933 as a housebuilder by Albert Mucklow and Jothan Mucklow, the great uncle and grandfather respectively of Rupert.
It ceased house building in the 1990s and focused its business towards investing and developing industrial and commercial properties, before converting to a UK-REIT in 2007.
Mucklow’s 3.8m sq ft property portfolio is focused around industrial sites in the Midlands area and was last month valued at £453m.
Its larger sites include Wednesbury One and Coleshill Trading Estate. It has 3.18m sq ft of industrial space, 330,000 sq ft of retail and 270,000 sq ft of offices.
Patrick Vaughan, chairman of LondonMetric, said: “The combination of their assets, of which approximately 70% is in distribution and industrial property, is consistent with our strategy of increasing our urban logistics exposure. The combination has compelling strategic and portfolio rationale with strong operational and financial benefits.
“There will be work to do, but we are excited by the reversionary and asset management potential of their assets which will underpin and further support our progressive dividend policy.”
