Land Securities has sold a portfolio of retail warehouse and industrial properties for £15m to a consortium made up of private property group Cardinal Lysander, Merlin Land and Baltic Properties.
The portfolio currently produces £1.5 m, with some rent reviews outstanding. The biggest lot is a 27,870 sq m (300,000 sq ft) retail park in Speke, Liverpool, which counts Texas Homecare, Halfords, B&Q, Granada and MFI among its tenants. But the company denied that the sale represented a shift in policy away from the retail warehouse sector. Ian Henderson, Land Securities’ managing director, said “This property was built in 1983 and it is one of the earliest generation of retail parks. It had reached the stage where we couldn’t add much more value.”
Other properties sold off in the portfolio incude a 2,323 sq m (25,000 sq ft) warehouse in Kempston, Bedfordshire, and a 3,252 sq m (35,000 sq ft) cash & carry unit in Yeovil, Somerset, let to Booker Fitch
The purchasers funded their acquisition with mortgage finance from Norwich Union and mezzanine finance from Baltic Property Finance.
Gerald Eve acted for the purchasers and Colliers Erdman Lewis represented the vendor.
