Retailers Woolworth have concluded a £16.7m sale-and-leaseback deal with London & Metropolitan Estates in which L&M will acquire 20 freehold High Street shops.
The deal is the first in a strategy which will see the retailers selling a further 60 shops — using the income to finance their £85m development programme of new stores.
In the deal with L&M, the shops have been leased back to Woolworth on 25-year leases with five-yearly reviews. The purchase shows an initial yield of 6.75%.
A spokesman for L&M said that they considered that there area a number of opportunities to “optimise the value” of the properties, which will be treated as current assets.
The shops are located throughout the country and include units in Penzance, Henley, Witney, Kendal and Redcar.
Woolworth Properties were represented by Edward Erdman, while Hartnell Taylor Cook acted for London & Metropolitan and have been retained as their consultants.
