LondonMetric Property has completed a flurry of sales and acquisitions totalling just under £125m.
The company has sold 10 “non-core” properties for £74.2m, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.9%, and it is has purchased seven properties for £50.1m, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.5%, which is expected to rise to 7.2% over five years.
LondonMetric has sold the 138,000 sq ft Airport Retail Park in Coventry (pictured), which it acquired in 2010 for £18m, for £37.3m; a 82,000 sq ft Compass training office in Yarnfield (£17.4m); a 35,000 sq ft convenience retail park in Totton (£9.5m); two offices in Coventry (£3.3m); two Stonegate pubs in Preston and Southampton (£3.3m); a former Dobbies garden centre in Huddersfield (£3.1m); and two parcels of development land (£0.3m).
The seven properties acquired by LondonMetric are: four Travis Perkins trade warehouses in Colchester, Lymington, Sheffield and Trowbridge, acquired for £16.4m through a 15-year sale-and-leaseback; a Premier Inn hotel in West Thurrock (£14.7m); a 54,000 sq ft retail property in Andover let to Wickes, The Range and KFC (£12.2m); and a new 22,000 sq ft M&S foodstore, pre-let on a 15-year lease, to be developed at a cost of £6.8m.
Andrew Jones, chief executive of LondonMetric, said: “We have again successfully disposed of non-core assets at prices in line with our valuations and reinvested into higher quality opportunities in strong conviction sectors, where rental growth prospects are more compelling.”
