Moorfield Group and Peloton Real Estate’s UK open-storage logistics facilities investment venture has added four sites to its portfolio.

The partnership has acquired the portfolio, comprising four sites in Newport, Peterborough, Preston and Tewkesbury for £26m (€29m). The sites are leased to used vehicle marketplace BCA.

In July last year, Moorfield and Peloton partnered to create the venture which expects to put together an initial £100m portfolio.

Moorfield, investing on behalf of its Moorfield Real Estate Fund V, is the majority investor in the joint venture. Peloton will mainly be responsible for identifying acquisitions and operating the portfolio.

The latest deal lifts the partnership’s portfolio to over 50 acres across six sites.

With a number of sites under offer, the partnership’s near-term pipeline would expand its owned portfolio to 70 acres across 10 sites, with a collective value of approximately £90m.

Nick Okell, investment director at Peloton, said: “These assets are aligned with our strategy, being in recognised logistics locations close to established urban centres and providing a strong income return profile.

“We continue to be on the lookout for further acquisitions to add to our rapidly growing portfolio with Moorfield, with a healthy near-term pipeline that will put us within touching distance of our initial target size and provide a solid foundation for future growth.”

Chris Perera, senior investment manager at Moorfield, said: “The rapid success of our open-storage joint venture with Peloton, combined with the sector’s compelling fundamentals, give us strong conviction to keep growing the platform.

“We have a proven track record of institutionalising emerging sectors across the spectrum of alternative and operational real estate and believe we can replicate our success across other asset classes in open storage.

“Open storage complements our existing strategies in adjacent sectors such as self-storage and urban warehousing, and we remain confident in the long-term performance of the UK industrial and logistics property market.”

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