Blackstone-owned investor-developer St Modwen has purchased a portfolio of UK urban warehouses from Argo Real Estate as part of plans to build a greater presence in Greater London and South East England.
St Modwen paid Argo £180 mln (€212.6 mln) for the portfolio, which includes seven units in London and one in Manchester, totalling 717,000 sq ft (66,000 m2) of space.
All the assets were built or substantially renovated in the last 10 years, and have an average unit size of 23,000 sq ft. All serve as last-mile facilities for a mix of different tenants.
‘We conclude this year with successful delivery across three key areas: building out our pipeline, delivering new warehousing space and growing our income portfolio. This recent transaction boosts our exposure to Greater London and the South East market and leaves us strongly placed for growth in 2022 and beyond,’ said Polly Troughton, managing director at St Modwen Logistics.
Crispin Gandy, CEO of Argo Real Estate, commented: ‘We’re delighted with the performance of these assets having achieved strong rent collections and both significant rental and capital growth despite the challenges presented by both Covid and Brexit. We’re looking to reinvest the proceeds and are considering a number of new opportunities.’
St Modwen was taken private by US alternatives giant Blackstone in June this year.
