British Land has bought three retail parks for a total of £94m and sold its 50% stake in a retail park in Preston for £30m.
The main purchase was the 300,000 sq ft Capitol Retail and Leisure Park, Preston, which was bought for £51.5m from Royal London Asset Management, at a net initial yield of 8.43%.
Savills advised Royal London. British Land was represented by Morgan Williams.
The others were the 90,000 sq ft Solartron Retail Park in Farnborough for £35m, a 7.65% NIY; and the 20,000 sq ft DFS on Newmarket Road, Cambridge for £7.35m, at 7.14% NIY.
The Cambridge site is adjacent to a B&Q BL bought last year. British Land said it also offered the potential for a longer-term life sciences redevelopment in a strategic location.
The REIT has sold its 50% stake in Deepdale Retail Park, Preston to Melford Capital for £30.3m, equating to a 7.5% NIY for the BL share.
Kelly Cleveland, head of strategy and investment at BL, said: “With retailers increasingly focused on the role of their stores, retail parks have emerged as a preferred format due to their compatibility with omni-channel retail, their affordability and appeal to online-resilient businesses. This is driving good occupational demand across the portfolio, reflected in our 97% occupancy and growing ERVs.”
The deals are in line with BL’s strategy to consolidate its position as the UK’s largest owner and operator of retail parks. Retail and fulfilment accounts for 35% of BL’s £9.6bn portfolio and is focused on retail parks.
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