Valor continues expansion with £50m off-market Birmingham acquisition
Valor has completed the acquisition of an off-market last mile logistics facility in Birmingham, for around £50 million, from NFU Mutual.
The real estate specialist says the purchase continues its strategy of expanding its footprint in select regional cities as it looks to double its UK portfolio and is its second acquisition in what it says is the UK’s most dominant regional metropolitan centre
The 250,000 sq ft single tenant unit is occupied by KitchenCraft on a long-term lease, and serves as its UK headquarters. It is located on Hub, Birmingham’s industrial and distribution park, which is home to a mix of national and international businesses including TNT, Argos and Make UK.
The Birmingham logistics market is characterised by a shortage of available warehouse space, which is driving record rental and capital growth, with Savills forecasting 10% annual rental growth in 2022. Investment in the wider Midlands region almost doubled from its previous high in 2020 of £1.6 billion to £3.1 billion in 2021.
Jeremy Achkar, Vice President, Investments, commented: “Birmingham and its 3.6 million inhabitants is one of our key regional UK conviction calls, reflecting the acute shortage of available space within suitable proximity to the city centre alongside its growing population and focus of the government’s Levelling Up agenda.
“This transaction is the latest demonstration of our forensic approach to sourcing and originating and offers an attractive mix of strong day one income, with the opportunity to significantly improve the rental tone over the medium term. It represents our second purchase in a City we aim to increase our footprint in significantly over the coming years.”
Valor was advised by Belmore Real Estate and DLA Piper.
