LondonMetric sells three retail assets

Retail property firm LondonMetric has sold three retail parks in Christchurch, Bedford and Maidstone for 60.9 million pounds.

The 104,000 square foot retail park at Christchurch, purchased back in 2013 for 27.1 million pounds, was sold to Orchard Street Investment Management for 34.5 million pounds at a net initial yield of 5.65 percent.

While the Alban Retail Park in Bedford spanning 66,000 square foot was acquired by Tritax Property for 14.4 million pounds, achieving a yield of 5.9 percent.

In addition, at Maidstone a joint venture DFS property, which retains 12 stores, has been sold to Helix Property for 12 million pounds, with LondonMetric securing 3.7 million pounds on the deal reflecting a yield of 7.5 percent.

Commenting on the offloaded properties, LondonMetric chief executive Andrew Jones said: “These have been very successful investments and we will continue to sell our well let mature retail assets upon completion of their business plans. Our retail park investments have halved over the last two years and now represent 13 percent of our total portfolio.

“The sale proceeds will be invested into our logistics investment and development programmes where rental growth prospects look more attractive.”