Aviva Investors, on behalf of the Lime Property fund, has bought a new 669,000 sq ft John Lewis warehouse on Magna Park for £74.20m, confirming a record yield of 4.9%.
Gazeley previously owned the facility.
The deal, tipped by Estates Gazette last month, will see Aviva Investors forward fund the shed , which is due to complete in February 2014.
It will be linked to John Lewis’s current distribution facility on Magna Park.
The asset is let to John Lewis for 30 years with inflation-linked rent reviews each year.
Aviva narrowly saw off a bid from Canada Life to complete the deal.
It is the first Gazeley sale since its takeover by Brookfield Asset Management.
Aviva this week appointed Andrew Davey as assistant manager of the fund to work alongside fund manager Renos Booth.
Booth said: “This acquisition comes on the back of the Lime Property Fund reaching assets under management of £1bn and continues our strategy of acquiring long-term, inflation-linked income from undoubted covenants.
“We are also pleased to have been able to build upon Lime’s track record of working with developers to complete this mutually beneficial transaction in such a short time frame.”
Gazeley executive director Nigel Godfrey added: “We took the decision to sell in light of the recent surge in investor demand and received a number of very strong offers which affirmed this. We were very pleased to complete the deal with the Aviva team in 10 days, in line with our plan. Construction is now underway and ahead of programme.”
Colliers International acted for Aviva Investors; Jones Lang LaSalle and Savills advised Gazeley.
Chris.Berkin@estatesgazette.com
