Delancey and Barwood have begun a marketing campaign to sell their £400m logistics platform, db symmetry.
The duo have appointed CBRE, Eastdil Secured and Savills to advise them. Codenamed Project Hurley, investment memoranda were issued to prospective bidders this week.
The company has undertaken an aggressive speculative development programme of around 800,000 sq ft but has typically traded on mature assets and the bulk of the value of the business is in its enormous land bank.
It owns 3,100 acres with consent in place for 15m sq ft of development and the potential for a further 32m sq ft which could be built out with fresh capital over a 10-year period. The land is concentrated in the Midlands’ “Golden Triangle” and the North West corridor and has an estimated end value of £3bn.
This week it gained planning consent for a 3m sq ft logistics park in Lutterworth, Leicestershire.
The sale is expected to attract interest from pension funds and investors that are looking to establish a presence in the UK logistics market and will likely be particularly attractive to those that do not already have an operating business to manage assets.
The business has similarities to land and development focused Gazeley which was sold to GLP earlier last year but also drew interest from Schrorders, Mapletree, Blackstone and CPPIB.
Schroders is understood to have agreed an off-market deal to buy db symmetry earlier this year before Delancey decided to pursue an open process.
db symmetry was formed at the start of 2015 when Delancey bought a 60% stake in Barwood Developments. It has an office in both Northampton and Manchester and is led by managing director Richard Bowen. While the entirety of the business is essentially for sale the management is keen to retain a stake.
Delancey is currently undertaking a major drive to recycle capital to reinvest in its PRS business Get Living. The company and its other backers Oxford Properties, Qatari Diar and APG have been shortlisted to buy Lone Star’s £2.3bn Wembley project.
To send feedback, e-mail david.hatcher@egi.co.uk or tweet @hatcherdavid or @estatesgazette
