London-based Sterling Property Ventures has acquired seven commercial property assets from BlackRock for £236 mln (€280 mln), with the latter acting on behalf of British Airways Pensions Trustees.
The assets provide an annual income in excess of £18.5 mln, and are a mix of freehold and leasehold sites across a range of asset types.
James Howarth, managing director of Sterling, said: 'Our plan is to have a minimum of £1 bn of assets under management. Acquiring a property portfolio from British Airways Pensions is a significant stepping stone towards that target.
'We are seeking high quality assets, ideally with the opportunity to add value, allowing us to bring our skills to bear. As this latest purchase demonstrates, we are sector agnostic.'
The mixed portfolio includes two logistics assets, at Calder Park in Wakefield and Interchange 26 in Bradford respectively, two prime office assets located at Windsor Dials in Windsor, and the Chapel Quarter development in Nottingham. This latter asset comprises offices, retail and leisure, plus a 120-key hotel leased to Premier Inn.
The logistics assets comprise 330,894 ft2 (30,600 m2) and 231,252 ft2 respectively, while the offices cover some 89,639 ft2.
The deal also includes the Hempstead Valley retail and leisure scheme in Gillingham which totals 449,986 ft2, three retail warehouses in Longwell Green, Bristol comprising 74,060 ft2 of space, and a leisure scheme dubbed Water's Edge located at Brindleyplace in Birmingham, covering 62,551 ft2.
The portfolio will be held in Sterling’s SPV Endeavour vehicle, which has backing from equity investor LetterOne.
BlackRock led the deal on behalf of British Airways Pension Trustees, with joint agents ACRE Capital, Morgan Williams and Capital Real Estate Partners handling the sale.
Knight Frank and HP Four advised Sterling, Colliers carried out building surveys and MAPP provided property management advice.
