Logistics portfolio acquired in £78m deal

LondonMetric has acquired a portfolio of urban logistics properties in a £78m deal.

The six single-let units have been purchased from an FSTE 100 pension fund and generate income of £4.8m per annum, which is expected to rise to £5.8m over the next two years.

Comprising a combined 526,000 sq ft, the units include a General Electric site in Stafford.

Other units are located in Banbury, Romford, Southampton, Bristol and Aberdeen and are leased to strong tenants including Thales, EVRI, Macarthys Laboratories and KCA Deutag, with a WAULT of 10 years.

Separately, LondonMetric has sold a further office asset in Edinburgh for £6m. It is let to HSBC for a further five-year term and was acquired through the CTPT takeover.

LondonMetric has now sold 14 of the 16 non-core CTPT assets at an average of 18% above original underwrite values.

Andrew Jones, Chief Executive of LondonMetric, commented: “This was a very rare opportunity to acquire, off market, a high quality portfolio which is immediately earnings accretive. The well located, mission critical assets, offer an attractive mix of near term income growth and value-enhancing asset management opportunities.

“Logistics remains our strongest conviction thematic and now accounts for over 45% of our total portfolio.”

LondonMetric was advised by Cortex Partners and the seller was advised by Clay Street.