LaSalle bags Irish Sainsbury’s store

LaSalle has acquired a Sainsbury’s food store in Ballymena, Ireland, for £17.85 mln (€21 mln) on behalf of the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers Superannuation Committee.

The sale reflects a net initial yield of 5.16%.

The deal follows LaSalle’s acquisition of two other superstores in Northern Ireland for the officers' scheme last year.

Following this acquisition, LaSalle has invested a total of £66.45 mln in Northern Irish supermarkets over the last year.

The 60,777 sq ft (5,650 m2) store at Braidwater Retail Park in Ballymena is let to Sainsbury’s on a 25-year lease. The vendor is Corbo Properties, Northern Ireland’s largest property company.

'We are interested in well located, prime assets with long, unexpired leases,' said Chris Fry, director at LaSalle Investment Management.

This purchase follows on from last year’s acquisition of a 85,119 sq ft Tesco store and petrol station on Bentrim Road, Lisburn and a 70,973 sq ft Sainsbury’s store on Strand Road, Londonderry.

Stephen Kirkpatrick, CEO of Corbo Properties, added: 'Having originally developed this scheme in the mid-1990s we have consistently sought to add value to the property through our proactive asset management approach.'

Osborne King and CBRE jointly advised Corbo Properties, the vendor, while LaSalle was advised by Wilkinson Williams.