London-listed Development Securities has acquired the Chill Factore, operator of the UK's longest indoor snow-covered ski slope and activity centre in Manchester, for £15.5 mln (€20 mln).

London-listed Development Securities has acquired the Chill Factore, operator of the UK's longest indoor snow-covered ski slope and activity centre in Manchester, for £15.5 mln (€20 mln).

The transaction involved the acquisition of Extreme Cool Limited (ECL), the company that owns and operates Chill Factore. The deal was completed in a joint venture with Pemberstone Investments Limited (PIL), an existing ECL shareholder, and was partly financed with a £10.5 mln debt facility from ICG-Longbow.

Completed in November 2007, the 15,500 m2 venue incorporates a 180-metre indoor real snow ski slope; a climbing wall; and 16 retail and restaurant units. Current occupancy rates stand at 94% by floor area with tenants including Nando’s, Snow and Rock, Evans Cycles and JD Wetherspoons. In total, revenues from the ski slope and retail units will generate an income for Development Securities of £1.5 mln per annum.

Located less than 4 miles from Manchester City Centre near the M60 motorway, Chill Factore is the anchor tenant in the Trafford Quays Leisure Village, a mixed-use leisure and retail destination adjacent to Intu Trafford (Shopping) Centre. The venue currently attracts between 1.2 million and 1.4 million visitors per year.

Matthew Weiner, executive director at Development Securities, said: 'Over the past year, we have disposed of a number of mature investment assets and we continue to focus our reinvestment activities on convenience retail schemes and alternative investment assets such as these where we can add value through our asset management and enhancement activities.'

Livingstone partners advised the vendors on the transaction.