Helical Bar has purchased six logistics properties for £37.5m and sold a portfolio of eight sheds to focus on higher-yielding investments.
The firm has sold 296,000 sq ft of sheds to BMO Global Asset Management for £28.5m – a 6.35% yield. They are located in Barking, east London; Maidenhead, Berkshire; Chichester, West Sussex; Gravesend, Kent; Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire; Gloucester; Northampton; and Bedford.
The properties were all stripped out of various portfolios bought over the past 12 months.
The six acquisitions, from individual vendors, comprise 700,000 sq ft of fully let space with a blended net initial yield of 7.8%.
A 168,000 sq ft shed in
Alfreton, Derbyshire, is the largest purchase, followed by a 138,000 sq ft warehouse in Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, and a 131,000 sq ft property in Stone, Staffordshire. The other assets are in Bristol, and Stevenage, Hertfordshire.
With £200m invested in the logistics sector across 33 assets, sheds now make up 17% of Helical’s portfolio.
Investment director Duncan Walker said: “We continue to see good opportunities in the distribution and logistics sectors, supported by improving levels of UK manufacturing and the move to e-commerce, while little new-build stock is coming on to the market.”
chris.berkin@estatesgazette.com
