Private investor Glenn Maud has beaten off competition from Morley Fund Management to buy Land Securities’ last leisure asset for well over its £72.5m asking price.
Maud’s PropInvest, advised by Franc Warwick, is understood to have bid around £80m for the 208,000 sq ft The Gate in
The scheme was put up for sale by LandSec in December, ahead of the company’s conversion to a REIT earlier this month. Jones Lang LaSalle is advising LandSec.
Maud, who was underbidder on the £600m sale of Swiss Re’s Gherkin at 30 St Mary’s Axe, EC3, late last year, has been steadily building up a £2bn portfolio of UK and European assets.
His firm focuses on retail investments but has recently been buying leisure stock.
Last October, he bought a portfolio of three Total Fitness clubs for £30m.
A source said: “This shows the demand for this area of the market. It’s the one sector where yields still look relatively defensive for good-quality assets.”
British Land-managed Hercules Unit Trust has also sold one of its few leisure schemes this week.
CBRE Investors has bought the 53,533 sq ft Silverlinks in
Increasing demand for leisure schemes, caused by strong yields, long leases and fixed uplifts, has led HBOS asset manager Invista to bring its 350,000 sq ft The Light in Leeds to market this week.
It has appointed CB Richard Ellis to sell the scheme for £107m – a 5.76% yield.
Leisure investment topped £1.2bn in 2006 – a record figure.
