Newcore Capital, the UK-focused real estate investment manager specialising in social infrastructure, has acquired four assets for around £20m (€23.2m).

The investments follow the raising of £190m in May for the firm’s fifth value-add fund and core-plus strategies it manages on behalf two UK family offices.

In July, Newcore spent £25m on assets across Greater London and surrounding commuter towns as it aims to capitalise on market dislocation.

The purchases include an office building with retirement conversion potential in Thames Ditton for around £10m, two petrol stations with electric-vehicle (EV) charging potential in Southampton and in Three Bridges for an aggregate price of close to £7.5m, and a special educational-needs school in Reading for £2.5m.

Newcore is pursuing a strategy of acquiring assets that serve essential societal needs, and Newcore said the latest investments were economically capable of continuing or converting through to uses such as EV charging, education and senior living.

The acquisitions also adhere to Newcore’s geographic focus on the South-East of England, where the firm believes demand-supply dynamics are most favourable and there is potential for alternative uses at sustainable rents.

Newcore typically acquires smaller assets of between £2m and £20m.

Hugo Llewelyn, CEO, Newcore Capital, said: “These acquisitions represent a continuation of our longstanding investment approach: investing in assets that serve essential societal needs and are thus resilient to the cyclical nature of capital markets, major economic shocks and the deflationary effects of technological innovation.

“Our sole focus on social infrastructure real estate combined with risk-averse capital stewardship has delivered consistently strong returns to our investors – an 11.4 % aggregate IRR since inception to June 2023, notwithstanding the overall falls in the wider capital markets.”

Harry Savory, CIO at Newcore Capital, said: “This is an increasingly attractive environment to be actively acquiring, albeit one to be aware of assets with unsustainable dynamics.

“We have purchased these assets with a good degree of confidence in their potential returns, thanks to our deep-rooted networks within the social infrastructure sectors and regionally in Greater London and the South East of England.”

Earlier this year, Newcore raised £190m for its latest value-add fund. Investors included the Merseyside and Clwyd local government pension schemes, a FTSE 100 pension fund, family offices and high-net-worth individuals.

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