Property developer completes portfolio sale in deals worth up to £70m

Haworth Group has sold seven multi-let industrial estates across the North West, Yorkshire and East Midlands for a total of approximately £70m.

The Rotherham-based property developer has disposed of:

• Melton Commercial Park, Melton Mowbray – purchased by ALMCOR in Q3 2023
• Towngate Business Centre, Widnes – purchased by a private investor in Q2 2023
• Alpha, Preston – single-let – purchased by a private investor in Q2 2023
• Selby Energy Park, Selby – purchased by Charterhouse in Q2 2023
• Sinfin Commercial Park, Derby – purchased by Hortons in Q1 2023
• Four Oaks Business Park, Preston – purchased by FD Holdings in Q1 2023
• Moorland Gate Business Park, Chorley – purchased by Kerax Holdings in Q1 2023

Savills advised Harworth on the sales, which are part of the group’s key strategic objective of transitioning its investment portfolio to 100% modern Grade A by 2027.

It will do this largely by retaining the assets that it develops while disposing of those where value has been maximised through the completion of asset management initiatives during their ownership.

The sale proceeds will also be used by Harworth to pursue other elements of its growth strategy, including its objective of increasing the direct development of industrial and logistics space.

The multi-let industrial assets had an overall floor area of around 1.2 million sq ft and total acreage of approximately 190 acres and provided both industrial/warehousing accommodation and open storage areas for occupiers.

Savills’ strategic advisory team comprised the London-based portfolio investment team, headed by Peter Cooper-Parry and the Manchester investment team, headed by Oliver Foster.

Jonathan Haigh, Haworth chief investment officer, said: “Harworth continues to develop sustainable Grade A industrial and logistics space across the regions, as we progress our growth strategy to become a £1bn business by 2027.

“As we retain more of these high specification units, we have sought to recycle capital from the sale of our more mature assets such as those in the Pegasus Portfolio.

“These transactions demonstrate continued demand for high quality industrial and logistics assets from investors and we are grateful for the Savills team’s support in getting them across the line.”

Peter Cooper-Parry, head of the portfolio investment team at Savills, said: “We are very pleased to have successfully completed the sale of Melton Commercial Park, the final asset in the successful disposal programme for Harworth.

“Given the economic headwinds and the perception of thin investor demand during this period, we were very encouraged to see solid demand for each of the assets from a range of investors.”

Oliver Foster, head of investment at Savills Manchester, said: “The assets were well positioned to capture interest from both a thematic perspective, with a number offering significant ‘open storage’ opportunities, as well as from the traditional industrial investors where significant capital is targeting multi-let estates in regional locations.

“These investors are drawn to assets with attractive yield profiles with scope to grow rents.”