JR Capital and Chancerygate’s £150m multi-let urban logistics investment fund has acquired a portfolio of three assets in the South East for a combined £14m.
The three sites are in Luton, Alton and Farnham. Together, they comprise 28 units totalling 90,400 sq ft. The portfolio was sold by GMS Estates.
The three assets range from 19,200 sq ft to 52,500 sq ft and are strategically located to enable access to South East markets along key transport corridors.
Tenants across the portfolio include national brands Screwfix, Brewers, City Plumbing, Co-operative Food and GreenThumb, as well as a diverse range of local and regional businesses.
The purchase by the fund brings its total investments so far to £50m, comprising 94 units and 537,000 sq ft of accommodation in Carlisle, Eastbourne, Northampton and Knowsley.
The £150m fund has a five-year life and is targeting urban logistics, industrial and warehousing investments across the UK in lot sizes of £10m to £20m.
The partners’ first fund, which totalled £100m, secured 18 assets ranging from Dundee to Exeter over a two-year period. The assets comprised 150 units totalling more than 1m sq ft.
JR Capital chief executive John Collier-Wright said the latest acquisition increases the fund’s weighting in the South East, which now accounts for more than half of the fund.
“This portfolio will provide the fund with well-diversified income and opportunities to add value in the short to medium term,” added Collier-Wright.
“The fundamentals of the multi-let industrial sector remain robust, driven by the supply/demand im-balance, which has given us the comfort to continue to scale our portfolio despite the significant global political and economic uncertainty.
“We have been acquisitive over the past 18 months while there has been distress in the markets and other investors have been sitting on their hands. We expect the investment markets, specifically the multi-let industrial sector, to stabilise over the coming year and for yields to tighten when interest rates eventually start to come back down.”
Chancerygate head of investment and asset management Simon Cowley said: “The acquisition of these three sites marks a significant, strategic expansion of our portfolio giving us further exposure to the particularly resilient South East market.
“The extremely high occupancy of the portfolio signifies the strength of demand for this type of accommodation in the region.”
M1 Agency acted on behalf of JR Capital and Chancerygate on the deal, while Gerald Eve advised GMS Estates.
To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@eg.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @EGPropertyNews
