Standard Life has completed its £86m deal to forward fund John Lewis’ 638,000 sq ft MP3 distribution centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, as revealed by Estates Gazette.
IDI Gazeley has continued its record-breaking run at Milton Keynes’ Magna Park, with the purchase price representing a yield of 4.2% on a 25-year lease at £5.50 per sq ft.
The price represents the keenest yield ever paid for a UK shed, excluding the 4.1% paid by Cargiant for an H&M-let shed in Wembley, where the landowner has strategic interests.
MP3 was put up for sale in February for £78m – a 4.75% yield. UBS, SEGRO, Tritax, Legal & General and Canada Life all bid for the property.
John Lewis already occupies 1.3m sq ft in two facilities, MP1 and MP2, at Magna Park, while subsidiary Waitrose occupies 938,449 sq ft.
All three assets have achieved record yields for the big-box market, highlighting the pace of price movements in the prime sheds sector.
In September 2013, Aviva paid £74.2m – a 4.9% yield – for John Lewis’ first shed on the site, while L&G paid £114m – a 4.64% yield – for the Waitrose-let shed last summer.
IDI Gazeley’s UK head Nigel Godfrey said: “The long-term nature of the lease, at 25 years, together with favorable values for class-A logistics real estate assets in the UK provides IDI Gazeley with an excellent opportunity to recycle our capital and redeploy it through our rapidly expanding platform.”
Savills represented IDI Gazeley; Gerald Eve acted for Standard Life.
