Singaporean investor Ascendas REIT is a step closer to sealing its European debut after exchanging contracts on a £207m UK logistics portfolio.
The portfolio being sold by Oxenwood Real Estate and its joint venture partner Catalina Holdings comprises 12 logistics assets, totalling 2.61m sq ft, located in Biggleswade, Rotherham, Runcorn, Stoke-on-Trent, Sheffield, Burton-upon-Trent, Heywood, Scunthorpe, Eastleigh, Newport Pagnell and two sites in South Normanton.
Completion of the deal is expected to take place next month.
Ascendas REIT is Singapore’s largest listed business space and industrial real estate investment trust with 131 assets across Singapore and Australia worth a combined S$10.4bn (£5.8bn). It is managed by Ascendas Funds Management (S) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ascendas-Singbridge Group, which is owned by Singaporean state-owned companies Temasek Holdings and JTC Corporation.
Ascendas said the acquisition of the portfolio will “serve as a good entry” into the UK where it sees opportunities for growth.
It added that the purchase was also part of the company’s diversification plans and that the depreciation of sterling against the Singaporean dollar (-33% over the last 10 years and -10% over the last two years) had made investing in the UK “attractive”.
Oxenwood said the proceeds from the sale would be reinvested in “opportunistic purchases”. It still has around £350m of logistics assets in the UK and Germany in joint ventures.
Jeremy Bishop, co-founder of Oxenwood, said: “This disposal demonstrates our willingness to exit assets as they mature and provides around £100m of equity for reinvestment by the Oxenwood Catalina joint venture into more active opportunities.
“It has generated an excellent return for the joint venture thanks to the timing of the acquisitions of the assets and the application of our asset management skills to regear and extend leases.”
Stewart Little, co-founder of Oxenwood, said: “Importantly, we are already in advanced discussions on a number of opportunities as we look to recycle the capital returned.”
Oxenwood Real Estate was advised by DTRE and Ascendas REIT was advised by Colliers.
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