Columbia Threadneedle sells portfolio to Martin’s Properties

Martin’s Properties has bought a portfolio of four retail and industrial properties from Columbia Threadneedle Investments for £23.1m, in an off-market transaction. The deal reflected a 6% net initial yield with immediate reversions. The freehold properties total around 130,000 sq ft across 10 acres and is fully let. The portfolio includes a Wickes retail warehouse in St Albans, Speedfield Retail Park in Fareham, Andover Retail Park in central Winchester and a modern, multi-let industrial estate in Milton Keynes. All of the properties in the portfolio have an EPC rating of C or higher. Martin’s Properties, which operates across the South of England, bought the portfolio with cash resources and completed the deal within five working days. The acquisition will add £1.5m per annum of rent to Martin’s Properties’ portfolio. More than 30% of its portfolio will be located outside of London, for the first time in the company’s 75-year history. Gary Sherwin, head of transactions at Martin’s Properties, said: “This opportunistic acquisition is a significant progression towards our strategy to diversify our portfolio and generate strong performance.” Brook Stotesbury, head of commercial asset management and investment at Martin’s Properties, said the deal was made with “a significant discount to pricing at the start of the year”. “The assets represent good long-term income to strong covenants in excellent macro and micro locations within the South East,” he added. During the past year, Martin’s Properties has deployed £63m, including more than £40m of cash in the past two months. Richard Bourne, chief executive of Martin’s Properties, said the business still has £65m of cash to investment and that it is looking “for opportunities to use our in-house development and asset management expertise”. It has £320m and 500,000 sq ft of assets under management. Bourne said: “We have been patient with our deployment of capital over the past two years and have quietly built up a strong cash position, which we are now able to deploy in an evolving market.” He added: “Our immediate focus is on securing further acquisitions where we can add value through development and repositioning to deliver opportunistic risk-adjusted returns.” To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@eg.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @EGPropertyNews