IRE spends EUR 55m on two UK acquisitions

Invesco Real Estate (IRE) has exchanged contracts to buy an office property in Bristol and a retail warehouse in north-east London for a total investment of £48 mln (EUR 55 mln). IRE is making the purchase on behalf of its UK III Fund.

The Paragon in central Bristol is a 7,000 m² Grade-A office property with an additional 642 m² of retail space on the ground floor and underground parking. It boasts a BREEAM Excellent rating.

The second acquisition involves a 49,000 m² stand-alone retail warehouse property in Harlow, London. The asset is let on a long-term lease to Wickes Building Supplies.

IRE is due to complete this transaction on 9 September.

'The two investments fit the fund profile well by focusing on strong real estate fundamentals,' said Toby Simon, IRE's director of Fund Management. 'They reflect such characteristics as being high-quality properties within excellent locations and benefit from financially strong tenants and long-term leases, which is reflected in the fund’s overall average lease term of 25 years.'

Hartnell Taylor Cook and HP4 acted on behalf of IRE in the Bristol and Harlow transactions respectively.

The UKIII Fund launched in August 2010 with £150 mln of spending capacity. The fund purchased its first property in December 2010 - a retail property in Bromley, South-East London for £17 mln let on a long-term lease to British Home Stores.