Big box warehouse specialist Exeter Property Group has acquired two logistics warehouses from LondonMetric Property in Sheffield and Wakefield for £67 mln (€78 mln).
The 527,000 ft2 (49,000 m2) property in Wakefield, previously occupied by Poundworld, was purchased for £43.5 mln. The building was acquired on completion in September 2016 for £39.4 mln by LondonMetric and has delivered an ungeared internal rate of return (IRR) of 6% per annum, the vendor said. The sale was in line with book value.
Exeter acquired the 335,000 ft2 property in Sheffield for £23.5 mln. LondonMetric said it picked up the property in March 2014 for £17.2 mln and that it was let to M&S until April 1 2019. It has delivered an ungeared IRR of 13% per annum. LondonMetric retains the adjoining 290,000 ft2 warehouse, also let to M&S and which has recently been re-geared.
Andrew Jones, chief executive of LondonMetric, commented: 'As a reit, we continue to be attracted to the income compounding qualities of well let real estate and so have reacted to an off market approach to monetise these two non-income generating properties. The receipts will be recycled into more urban logistics assets where valuations are better supported and future rental growth is more certain.'
ACRE Capital Real Estate LLP and Gent Visick acted for Exeter Property Group.
