Segro banks £80m through selling off industrial estates
BRITISH landlord Segro said yesterday it has sold a portfolio of five non-core industrial estates to funds owned by Ignis Asset Management for £80.2m.
The sale is part of the company’s plan to focus its UK multi-let industrial portfolio on London and South East.
“The sale of these assets demonstrates that, despite the uncertain economic environment, investor demand for industrial assets remains resilient,” Phil Redding, Segro’s chief investment officer, said in a statement.
The sold portfolio — with estates located in Fareham, Southampton, Bristol, Crawley and Portsmouth — has total lettable space of 74,734 square metres, said Segro.
UK Commercial Property Trust, one of Ignis’ funds that is buying the properties from Segro, said it continues to look for acquisitions to boost its industrial portfolio.
“This transaction fits well with our strategy of acquiring good quality assets that, particularly in these uncertain economic times, both complement our existing portfolio and offer strong, defensive income characteristics,” said UKCPT chairman Christopher Hill.
Segro, whose portfolio comprises £5.4bn of predominantly industrial and warehouse assets, will release its full-year results this morning.
The company last updated the market in November, when it said its vacancy rate had dropped to 10.2 per cent from 11.4 per cent in June.
MEET THE ADVISERS
PHILIP MARSDEN
JONES LANG LASALLE
JONES Lang LaSalle’s industrial and logistics team has been advising Segro on its £1.6bn disposal programme, including yesterday’s sale, with Philip Marsden leading the team. Marsden, director of capital markets, is regarded as one of the UK’s top investment advisers and in October was also handed a second role as managing director of JLLS’s Europe, Middle East and Asia corporate finance team. A former partner at King Sturge, which merged with JLLS in May, Marsden has been involved in the creation of several significant funds and investment vehicles for a variety of clients in recent years, including Scottish Widows, Aviva and Legal & General. JLLS’s industrial team transacted more than 26m square feet of space across the UK last year and also completed the largest number of leasing deals of all industrial agents.