UK Commercial Property REIT (UKCM) has sold its 17,322 m2 Wembley180 logistics asset in London to registered charitable company Covent Garden IP (CG).
The FTSE 250 real estate investment trust will receive £74 mln (€85 mln) for the asset, reflecting a net initial yield of 3.49%, generally in line with the 31 March 2023 valuation.
Owned by UKCM since 2009, the property was refurbished to Grade A specification in 2019 when it was let to a global e-commerce company for £2.7 mln (€3.1 mln)/year until 2029.
Wembley180 is a large-scale urban logistics centre, situated on a 4 hectare site in Neasden in close proximity to the M1 and M25, as well as the A406 North Circular, providing direct access to central London.
Will Fulton, lead manager at UKCM, commented: ‘This disposal allows us to crystallise the value we have created through both the timely acquisition of an asset in a prime London logistics location and our subsequent active asset management of the property, including a long lease to a global e-commerce business. We will use proceeds of the sale to enhance earnings, primarily by paying down some short-term debt.’
Dale Bills, spokesman for CG, added: ‘The purchase of Wembley180 furthers our efforts to make prudent, long-term investments. Earnings from our investments are expected to support the religious and charitable work of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United Kingdom.’
UKCM plans to use most of the proceeds to pay down a significant portion of its £93 mln (€107 mln) floating rate Rolling Credit Facility, currently costing 6.3% per year.
DTRE advised UKCM, while CG was advised by DWS and Knight Frank.
