Listed retail property investor London & Associated Properties (LAP) announced on Tuesday that it has signed a new £74mln joint venture with the Bank of Scotland Corporate to acquire quality shopping investments across the UK where the initial yield is set to be above the cost of capital.
Listed retail property investor London & Associated Properties (LAP) announced on Tuesday that it has signed a new £74mln joint venture with the Bank of Scotland Corporate to acquire quality shopping investments across the UK where the initial yield is set to be above the cost of capital.
This new partnership, called Analytical Ventures, follows last September's conclusion of LAP's previous partnership with Bank of Scotland Corporate. The new joint venture has an initial life of five years and all cash and debt has been pre-committed. To mark the launch of this latest joint venture LAP announced that contracts have been exchanged to acquire Westgate House, a 92,000 sq ft (8,550 m2) retail and office investment in Halifax, for £10.5mln from UBS Triton Property Fund. The purchase price reflects a net initial yield of 7.1%, rising to 7.8% following the letting of the only vacant retail unit, which is currently under offer.
Westgate House comprises approximately 56,200 sq ft of retail, let to Tesco, Dorothy Perkins, Savers, 99p Stores and other national retailers, and approximately 35,500 sq ft of offices above, occupied by Calderdale Borough Council and Rice Jones, one of Halifax's oldest solicitors.
LAP's CEO John Heller said: 'We are delighted to announce our latest joint venture with Bank of Scotland Corporate which shows that, despite the current market, banks are still prepared to back property investors with a solid and successful track record.'
