LondonMetric has sold seven properties in separate transactions for £31.3m (€36.7m), reflecting a blended net initial yield (NIY) of 7% and a 3% profit over prevailing book values.
The properties sold include £18.3m of non-core LXi REIT assets, which have been sold at 5% ahead of prevailing book values.
The transaction follows the listed REIT’s acquisition of LXi in a £1.9bn all-share merger to create the UK’s fourth-largest real estate investment trust (REIT).
Additionally, the sales include former LXi assets including a 106,000sqft Asda foodstore in Scotland which sold for £10.5m; a 41,000sqft retail park in Ipswich let to Wickes, Topps Tiles, McDonalds and Costa sold for £10.2m; two former Cazoo car showrooms in Edinburgh and Cardiff sold for £6.4m; a B&M retail store in Stourbridge sold for £2.8m; and a Travelodge hotel and a pub sold for £1.4m.
Separately, LondonMetric has acquired six reversionary urban warehouse assets for £45m, reflecting a NIY of 6.1% and a reversionary yield of 6.6%.
The assets acquired have a weighted average unexpired lease term of 7.6 years and comprise a 106,000sqft warehouse in Cardiff let to Booker; a 95,000sqft warehouse in Milton Keynes let to Ingram Content Group; a 30,000sqft multi-let warehouse in York; a 28,000sqft multi-let warehouse in Reading; and two warehouses totalling 37,000 sqft in Derby and Huntingdon, acquired through a 15-year sale and leaseback with Travis Perkins.
Andrew Jones, chief executive of LondonMetric, said: “We are delighted to have exited these non-core assets and reinvested the proceeds into much higher quality assets, which offer superior rental growth potential.
“We are continually looking to upgrade the quality of our portfolio and exit lower growth assets outside of our core sectors or those that do not meet our return criteria. As such, we expect to announce further disposals shortly.”
To read the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.
