European investment manager Valad Europe's European Diversified Fund (VEDF) has acquired the St Johns Shopping Centre in Leeds, UK and a car showroom in Nottingham for a total of £42.5 mln (€58 mln).
European investment manager Valad Europe's European Diversified Fund (VEDF) has acquired the St Johns Shopping Centre in Leeds, UK and a car showroom in Nottingham for a total of £42.5 mln (€58 mln).
Following these purchases VEDF has now acquired £288 mln of assets in the UK.
St Johns Shopping Centre was purchased from Hermes Investment Management for £37 mln. Totalling 162,000 sq ft (15,000 m2), the asset comprises a 79,000 sq ft mall featuring 34 units and 83,000 sq ft of office space on the first floor. The asset also includes a 330-space multi-storey car park.
The 42,335 sq ft car showroom in Nottingham was acquired for £5.5 mln, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.25%.
Simon Marriott, Valad Europe's head of UK Real Estate, commented: 'Both of these assets were selected because of their excellent locations in the UK's northern powerhouse and their potential to increase value through smart asset management.'
Thierry Leleu, Valad Europe's head of funds management, added: 'We have now acquired 20 assets for VEDF in the UK and are still looking to deploy further capital across the fund's target markets of the UK, Germany and France with strong and continued support from our investors on value-add asset plays.'
In Leeds, Joiner Cummings acted for Valad Europe and Jackson Criss advisedHermes Investment Management, while in Nottingham, Lawson & Partners represented Valad Europe.
The Valad European Diversified Fund is an £800 mln fund which employs leverage of between 50-65%. The fund invests in core plus/value add assets in the UK, Germany and France with individual lot sizes between £5 - £50 mln, across the office, retail and industrial distribution warehouse/smaller logistics sectors.