Commercial sites acquired in £355m property deals
A PORTFOLIO of logistics sites, including Birmingham Mail Centre and Shepcote Lane in Sheffield, have been acquired in a major deal worth almost £315m.
SEGRO and Moorfield Real Estate Fund II’s recently established UK Logistics (Jersey) joint venture has exchanged contracts to acquire the UK Logistics Fund from Hermes Real Estate Investment Management Ltd, Legal & General and LaSalle Investment Management.
The deal is worth £314.7m in cash on a debt free, cash free basis.
Elsewhere, a package of nine commercial property sites including several across the West Midlands and one in St Helens have been acquired by the Conygar Investment Company in a separate £40m transaction.
The UKLF portfolio comprises 14 prime logistic warehouse units plus one development site in 12 locations on or near main arterial roads in established distribution areas across the UK.
The portfolio has a total lettable floor space of 404,100 sq m (4.35m sq ft) with 64% of the space by value located in the South of England. Current occupiers include Tesco, Sainsbury’s, GKN Aerospace, Royal Mail, Booker and Exel UK.
The UKLF portfolio comprises:
• Western Approach, Avonmouth
• Bicester Distribution Park, Bicester
• Birmingham Mail Centre, Birmingham
• Bardon, Leicestershire
• DIRFT, Daventry
• Hatfield Business Park, Hatfield
• Rye Park Depot, Hoddesdon
• Snodland, Maidstone
• Keypoint Distribution Park, Swindon
• Tunnel Avenue, West Thurrock
• Mitchell Road, Corby
• Shepcote Lane, Sheffield Site 8020 – Western Approach, Avonmouth (Development site)
David Sleath, SEGRO’s chief executive, said: “This transaction represents a material step forward in the execution of our recently announced strategy to expand our logistics portfolio in partnership with third party investors.
“The purchase of the high quality UKLF portfolio, with its strong customer base and long lease maturity profile, significantly enhances our UK logistics presence and gives us critical mass in one of our core markets. The portfolio offers both a high quality current income stream and the potential to add further value through active asset management.”
The deal concluded by Conygar has seen it acquire the nine sites from Edinmore Group and Buccleuch Property, for a total cash consideration of £39.9m.
The portfolio comprises:
• Ashby Park, Ashby de la Zouch
• Norfolk House, Birmingham
• Watt Place, Hamilton International Technology Park, Blantyre
• Compass House, Dundee
• Witham Park House, Lincoln
• Charles House, Northampton
• Tollgate Business Park, Stafford
• 1 Cotham Street, St Helens
• Network House, Wolverhampton
