UK asset manager Rockspring has acquired the Fairhill shopping centre in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.
UK asset manager Rockspring has acquired the Fairhill shopping centre in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.
The investment volume of £45.6 mln (€62 mln) reflects a net initial yield of 8.6%.
The deal was carried out on behalf of Rockspring's UK Value 2, and lifts the fund's assets to over £390 mln.
Fairhill is located to the north of Ballymena town centre, 45 km north of Belfast, and offers 27,500 m2 of retail space, comprising 49 retail units, a food court and parking for 900 cars. Currently more than 95% let, it is home to a range of national retailers including M&S, Debenhams, Next, New Look, Top Shop, H&M and River Island.
Cordatus Real Estate will act as joint venture partners in the asset management of the scheme.
'Fairhill Shopping Centre is a prime shopping centre with a strong national retailer base,' said Richard Bains, Rockspring partner and fund manager of the UK Value series. 'As with the other shopping centre acquisitions we have made in Taunton, Aylesbury and Leeds, this transaction is in line with the fund’s strategy to source properties that will benefit from expert asset management and will, ultimately, provide long term income streams for our investors.'
Rockspring UK Value 2 is the second fund in a sequential, UK-only closed-ended real estate strategy with a core plus risk profile. The fund held its final close earlier this year, securing a total of £342 mln of equity from 11 investors for the fund, which will have a duration of seven years.
Cordatus Real Estate and DTZ McCombe Pierce acted for Rockspring on the transaction. CBRE acted for the vendor.