Two retail assets in North Shields and Llanelli have been sold in separate transactions for a total consideration of £21.1 million (LondonMetric share: £10.6 million). The assets are held in LondonMetric's joint venture with Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd and are fully let to retailers including B&Q, Pets at Home, B&M, Tapi and Carpetright, with a WAULT of 6 years.
These sales are at an 8% surplus to the last reported book value.
In three further transactions, two offices and a retail unit in Birmingham have been sold for a total consideration of £17.4 million. The assets, originally purchased as part of the Mucklow acquisition in 2019, are fully let to Beiersdorf, the Highways Agency and J&S Accessories, with a WAULT of 6 years. These disposals are at a 1% surplus to the last reported book value, with completion of the largest asset disposal delayed until September.
The five disposals crystallise an ungeared IRR of 8% pa.
LondonMetric has now sold 12 former Mucklow assets totalling over £60 million, including nearly half of the Mucklow office portfolio, delivering a total annualised return of 10.6%.
Andrew Jones, Chief Executive of LondonMetric, commented:
“As part of our portfolio refinement, we continue to dispose of non-core and mature assets at attractive prices, allowing us to re-invest into opportunities with greater certainty of income and income growth.”