SEGRO has agreed a tie-up with developer Roxhill which will see it expand its development pipeline by close to £600m.
The REIT has agreed to buy options on around 10 sites in the South East and Midlands. They total in the region of 600 acres with the capacity for 11m sq ft of development.
The deal will allow SEGRO to strengthen its position in the big-box logistics market as it looks to modernise its portfolio.
It is also a coup for Roxhill’s management, led by David Keir and Jason Dalby, and its backers, Mark Glatman’s Abstract Securities, CBRE Global Investors and Forum Partners.
The company will receive a small sum in exchange for the sale of the options but will gain sizeable development management contracts and realise profits as options are taken up. Roxhill will be responsible for taking sites through planning and once consented SEGRO is expected to take up each option.
The transaction is not a corporate deal and will not see the transfer of any of Roxhill’s employees to SEGRO.
The agreement is expected to be announced imminently and may be included in SEGRO’s full-year results next week.
In September 2014, the two parties came close to an outright sale of Roxhill’s portfolio to SEGRO, but the deal failed to win approval from Roxhill’s shareholders.
A spokesman for SEGRO said: “We are unable to comment on market speculation.”
Key Roxhill sites optioned by SEGRO
- Gateway, Castle Donington – planning application in for 6m sq ft
- Howbury Park, Bexley, south-east London – planning application in for 149-acre rail-connected site
- Junction 10 Business Park, Kettering, Northamptonshire – consent for buildings of 10,000-150,000 sq ft on 90-acre site
- Woodcut Farm, Maidstone, Kent – planning application in for 500,000 sq ft business park
- Northampton Gateway – planning application is being worked up on behalf of Howdens for a 2m sq ft facility
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