Latter-day Saints buys UKCM’s Wembley180 for £74m

UK Commercial Property REIT has sold a 186,455 sq ft logistics building in Wembley, north-west London, for £74m. Registered charity Covent Garden IP, which supports the Mormon Church, bought Wembley180 at a net initial yield of 3.49%. The is broadly in line with UKCM’s March valuation. UKCM has owned the property since 2009 and completed a refurbishment in 2019, when it let the unit to a global e-commerce company until 2029. The REIT said it would use the proceeds to pay down a substantial amount of its £93m floating-rate rolling credit facility, which is currently costing 6.3% pa. Lead manager Will Fulton said: “This disposal allows us to crystallise the value we have created through both the timely acquisition of an asset in a prime London logistics location and our subsequent active asset management of the property, including a long lease to a global e-commerce business. We will use proceeds of the sale to enhance earnings, primarily by paying down some short-term debt.” Covent Garden IP spokesman Dale Bills added: “The purchase of Wembley180 furthers our efforts to make prudent, long-term investments. Earnings from our investments are expected to support the religious and charitable work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United Kingdom.” DTRE advised UKCM. DWS and Knight Frank advised the purchaser on the sale. To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews