Big shed investor completes £44m acquisition of strategic site

Big shed investor Tritax Big Box has further expanded its portfolio of properties in Staffordshire with the £44m acquisition of a distribution facility in Cannock.

The real estate investment trust (REIT) has acquired the Unilever national distribution facility at the Kingswood Lakeside development for a total consideration is £44.25m (excluding the purchaser’s costs).

Purpose-built in 2005 for Unilever and extended in 2012, the high specification facility has a gross internal area of 541,157 sq ft, an eaves height of between c.10 and 28 metres, extensive parking, is highly automated and has benefited from significant capital investment.

The property has been acquired with a new 10-year lease, subject to a five-yearly upward only rent review indexed to the Retail Price Index with a collar and cap in place.

Cushman & Wakefield represented Unilever.

The REIT has been targeting the county due to its strategic location at the core of the Midlands transport network. The site is close to both the M6 and M6 Toll, while having easy access to the A5. The Lakeside area has attracted a significant number of logistics occupiers including APC Overnight, Bidvest, First Group and Hellerman Tyton.

Colin Godfrey, Partner of Tritax, said: “We are pleased to have acquired our second distribution centre let to the leading globally recognised consumer goods company; Unilever. This property plays a key role in Unilever’s supply chain and has benefited from significant capital investment with a high level of automation.

“This purchase adds to our portfolio’s core foundation income, strengthens our existing customer relationship with Unilever, provides geographic diversity and offers good potential for rental growth.”

During the past year, the company has also built a 543,692 sq ft factory in South Staffordshire for automotive component manufacturer Gestamp and a 561,767 sq ft warehouse in Fradley, which is let to Screwfix.

Whilst in October it invested almost £80m to acquire two large logistics facilities at Prologis Park, Stoke-on-Trent from ProLogis European Finance XI Sarl.

The two units are let to fashion, food and soft furnishings retailers Marks and Spencer and Dunelm.

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