NewRiver acquires Ellandi

NewRiver REIT has bought Ellandi Management, ramping up its capital partnerships business and bringing its total assets under management to around £2bn. The REIT said the acquisition aligns with its strategy to expand its capital partnership business over the medium term, “leveraging its position as one of the largest specialist retail real estate asset managers in the UK to partner with new and existing owners of retail property”. The combined capital partnership business will have AUM of circa £1.5bn across a portfolio of 21 shopping centres and 18 retail parks, with 13 different partners. Including NewRiver’s wholly-owned portfolio of retail assets, this increases to total AUM of about £2bn across a portfolio of 44 shopping centres and 29 retail parks and an existing fee income stream of £8.2m. Ellandi co-founders and owners Morgan Garfield and Mark Robinson will join NewRiver as head of capital partnerships and head of regeneration, respectively. The duo will also join NewRiver’s executive committee. The Ellandi business brings with it a portfolio of 16 shopping centre asset management mandates, covering over 6.3m sq ft, with 10 different partners. Ellandi has extensive experience working with public sector owners to deliver regeneration, with ongoing projects including the regeneration of Blackpool town centre and Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle. During the year ended 30 April 2024, Ellandi’s fee income was £5.7m, with EBITDA at £1.1m. The acquisition was made for an initial £5m in cash, with additional cash consideration of up to £4m subject to EBITDA performance, including realising savings through shared services, over a three-year earn-out period. Allan Lockhart, chief executive at NewRiver, said: “The acquisition of Ellandi supports our ambitions to expand our capital partnerships business and grow its fee income. We have watched the impressive growth of Ellandi over the last 16 years, despite limited capital resources, which has been in no small part due to the entrepreneurial energy and expertise of Morgan, Mark and their team. “We believe there will be considerable opportunities in the retail real estate market to accelerate the growth of our business from this point. By bringing together two high-quality teams with complementary skills and experience in asset management and regeneration, together with the balance sheet resources we have available, we are well positioned to participate in these opportunities, both on the balance sheet and through capital partnerships.” Mark Robinson, co-founder of Ellandi, said: “Morgan and I are extremely proud of what the team at Ellandi have achieved to date in delivering sustainable change to the UK’s retail places and believe this transaction creates an exciting opportunity to combine two market leading retail asset management businesses with shared growth ambitions. “Together we will bring unrivalled insights into UK consumer and retailer trends through the extensive data of our enlarged footprint. NewRiver is passionate about retail and recognises the important role it plays at the heart of communities, as well as having a similar culture and shared values. I look forward to our business becoming part of the NewRiver team and applying our combined expertise in the sector.” In recent months, NewRiver has been searching for potential partners to form a long-term joint venture for a retail park portfolio. It is seeking to raise £200m of private capital from core-plus investors.