Two Wrexham warehouses have been acquired by a Singapore-based fund manager in a £30m-plus deal.
The properties – which comprise 711,633 sq ft of space on a 45.9-acre site – are let to the Shop Direct Home Shopping, one of the UK’s largest e-commerce retailers and a subsidiary of The Very Group. They have been acquired by Elite Partners Capital (EPC).
B8 Real Estate acted for the vendor, a major UK pension fund. The deal marks the culmination of a ten-year project for B8 Real Estate, which acquired the properties on behalf of the vendor and has since helped to reposition them. The B8 team consisted of Simon Wood, John Burrows and Joe Sinclair of the investment team and Jon Thorne of the occupational team.
Simon Wood said:
“B8 Real Estate prides itself on its involvement in the North Wales market, particularly the major industrial areas of Wrexham and Deeside. Having acquired both these units for our client circa 10 years ago, it has been great to successfully complete their business plan which involves a substantial regear, reletting and repositioning of the combined assets.
“The sale attracted a lot of interest from investors in the UK and overseas, proves the growing global attraction and awareness of industrial areas such as this which 10 to 15 years ago would not necessarily have been on their requirements list. It has been a pleasure to deal with both the buyer and their advisors Colliers. “
The deal represents the first UK acquisition for EPC’s Logistic Fund II, which aims to build on the strong track record and the deep network the manager has built over the years.
Victor Song, CEO of Elite Partners Capital, said the acquisition was part of the firm’s bigger plan to amass an institutional-scale portfolio of prime logistics assets across Europe and the UK.
“We believe that this asset is particularly well-placed to benefit from the highly dynamic logistics market in the UK where the demand for logistics warehouses remains strong and resilient,” he said.
Michael Kershaw of Colliers acted for Elite Partners Capital.
Wrexham Industrial Estate is one of the largest industrial estates in the UK, well placed to serve both Wales and England. The estate extends to over 550 hectares and is home to over 340 businesses creating employment for over 10,000 people.