£44m deal brings forward sale of major Birmingham retail park

The Fort Shopping Park in Birmingham has been sold following a £44m deal between Tristan Capital Partners and Invesco Real Estate, which brought forward sale.

Invesco will take control of the 301,070 sq ft park on the outskirts of the city, which is anchored by Primark, Next, JD Sports and Boots.

Dan Pottorff, head of debt investment at Tristan, said: “This financing illustrates the core
strategy of TIPS One – to back experienced, well-capitalised sponsors, actively managing high quality assets to drive income and capital growth. We are taking a highly selective approach to retail, focussing on opportunities where we are working with established managers with progressive and considered strategies for well-located assets.”

Invesco will make a host of operational changes at The Fort, such as smaller units being repurposed
for food and leisure operators, as well as further optimisation of the tenant mix. Alternative uses will also be explored to account for urban logistics and click and collect formats.

Ashil Sodha, director, debt investment at Tristan, said: “We are pleased to have supported Invesco Real Estate with debt financing for this acquisition. The rebalancing of capital values and rents
across the sector in recent times, coupled with the strong performance of this format of retail through the pandemic, has created compelling investment opportunities for active managers to reposition assets. A wave of new capital is helping reinvogorate dominant retail assets like The Fort, which Invesco Real Estate and its operating partner George Capital are well placed to deliver.”

Tristan Capital Partners was advised by BCLP and Invesco Real Estate by Cadwalader, Wickersham
and Taft, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson and Laurus Property Partners.