Otium Real Estate, the London-based fund manager headed by Land Securities' former retail management head Ashley Blake, has launched its second leisure property fund, Otium Leisure Ventures II.
The new vehicle has a spending power of £200 mln (€225 mln) and will focus exclusively on value-add leisure property opportunities across the UK including leisure parks, parades of city-centre restaurants, town centre multi-led leisure blocks and single assets and portfolios of properties such as hotels, cinemas and gyms.
The fund is backed by the same pool of international investors who backed fund I at its launch in November 2014, the company said.
The new fund has made its first acquisition with the purchase of the Coppins Bridge scheme in the Isle of Wight from Aviva Investors. The 73,600 sq ft (6,840 m2) property comprises the Isle of Wight’s only multiplex cinema and a range of tenants including Cineworld, Pizza Hut, KFC, Office Outlet and Fever Bars. The property is located in Newport in the centre of the island close to supermarkets and out-of-town retail. It benefits from two car parks and covers a 4.66 acre site.
The purchase was made at a price of £12.95 mln reflecting a yield of 7% on a rental income of £970,169 per annum.
Ashley Blake of Otium said, 'Following on from the success of our first fund, we were keen to invest further in this exciting and dynamic sector and fund II enables us to add to our portfolio. We are keen to acquire further leisure assets during 2018.'
