SEGRO sells non-core industrial portfolio; Anglesea Capital creates ‘supershed’
Segro has sold a portfolio of UK industrial assets to two property funds managed by Ignis Asset Management for £80.2m. Segro says this is part of its new strategy to focus its industrial portfolio on London and the South East.
The five non-core UK industrial unit assets comprise a total lettable space of 74,734 sq m. They are the Trilogy industrial estate in Farnham; Southern Cross distribution park in Southampton; Emersons Green in Bristol; Gatwick Gate in Crawley; and Motor Park in Portsmouth. Segro says the portfolio is currently fully let and has a weighted unexpired lease term of 6.75 years to earliest expiry. The sale price represents a net initial yield of 6.3%, or 7.0% including the benefit of rent top-ups and guarantees.
Segro’s chief investment officer Phil Reddick said the sale demonstrated that investor demand for industrial assets remained “resilient” despite the uncertain economic environment. You can see full details of other industrial units for sale and to rent from Segro here.
Meanwhile CBRE says the new ‘supershed’ for which planning permission has recently been granted will be one of only four new-build industrial units of more than 500,000 sq ft currently available in the UK. The new 550,000 sq ft unit will be formed by linking two existing units at Anglesea Capital’s Sherburn distribution park just outside Leeds. CBRE, which is marketing the unit, says it is being created to meet the requirements of large retailers, manufacturers and logistics operators.
Anglesea Capital’s Nick Sowerbutts says Debenhams’ decision to establish a 667,000 sq ft distribution centre at Sherburn demonstrated the suitability of the park as a Northern base for major retailers, and adds: “we can now accommodate an occupier of this scale with similar requirements and can structure deals to meet individual occupiers’ requirements”.
CBRE senior director Toby Vernon says recent demand for industrial units has been “significantly driven by retailers seeking to capitalise on economies of scale by consolidating supply chains into a smaller number of strategically located, larger footprint buildings”. He adds that demand for warehouse property continues to be driven by the growth in online retailing “and the current economic climate has also created an opportunity for growth of budget retailing, which has also resulted in new demand for logistics space.”
