This Week's London Deal Sheet
The Deal Sheet is a weekly compilation of Greater London and beyond's biggest leases, sales, financing deals, construction updates and personnel moves. Have news you’d like to submit? Email mark.faithfull@bisnow.com.
Royal London Asset Management Property has finalised a round of transactions in the industrial and logistics sector worth more than £350M.
The company has sold 34 acres of industrial and logistics assets in Southall, west London, that offers a prime freehold data centre redevelopment opportunity centred around International Trading Estate, Brent Road, the company said.
In Havant, Royal London Asset Management has partnered with Canmoor Developments to acquire a 4.2-acre brownfield site from the administrator of Dunham-Bush for £5.1M. The acquisition will enable the development of three Grade A industrial units, providing 104K SF of lettable floor area.
Royal London Asset Management has also leased out its newly developed units at Springfield Business Park in Chelmsford on a 10-year lease, including a 36K SF head office and warehouse, with the company estimating a gross development value of £30M for the combined units.
DEALS
Student property developer and landlord Unite Students has sold six properties to PGIM Real Estate for £184M.
The properties, totalling 2,948 beds, are in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leicester, Liverpool, Nottingham and Sheffield. The disposal is part of the group's portfolio management strategy to “increase alignment to high and mid-ranked universities” which have the strongest outlook for student demand and support sustainable rental growth, the company said of the move.
The disposals are priced in line with book value, reflecting a net operating income yield of 6.2%, Unite Students said.
“These disposals continue our disciplined approach of recycling capital for reinvestment and further increases our alignment to the strongest universities,” Unite Students CEO Joe Lister said in a statement. “The growth outlook for purpose-built student accommodation remains compelling and we are tracking a number of new investment opportunities at attractive returns.”
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Hines has made its debut in the European self-storage sector via the acquisition of a three-asset portfolio in the south-east of England.
The portfolio, acquired on behalf of Hines European Real Estate Partners 3 from a local private family vendor, comprises 1,449 self-storage and office units across three trading assets in Ashford, Chatham and Ebbsfleet. Self-storage operator Storage King will handle the portfolio’s management and branding.
The acquisition will be a platform for HEREP 3 to grow its presence in the sector via further acquisition, development and repositioning, Hines said in a statement. The fund is looking to aggregate a portfolio of more than £200M, initially focused on the UK but widening to additional European markets.
JLL advised Hines on the acquisition.
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Real estate investment and asset management specialist Columbia Threadneedle has acquired Phases 2 and 3 of Merry Hill Retail Park in Brierley Hill and Phoenix Retail Park in Corby on behalf of separate client funds for undisclosed sums.
These acquisitions follow the purchase of Parkgate Shopping Park in Yorkshire earlier this year.
Phases 2 and 3 of Merry Hill Retail Park comprise 197K SF of retail warehouse and restaurant space on about 15 acres. Meanwhile, Phoenix Retail Park in Corby offers 118K SF of retail warehouse space.
FINANCE
Fund manager Patron Capital has closed its seventh fund, raising more than €860M (£737M), including more than €200M of Patron discretionary co-investment capital for larger opportunities, the company said.
Of the capital raised for Patron Capital Fund VII, 76% came from its existing investor base and relationships, with the majority of commitments coming from the U.S. and Canada. Investors included pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations and family offices.
The fund will continue the same investment strategy as Patron’s previous vehicles, opportunistically targeting distressed and undervalued investments across Western Europe. Patron’s typical deal size ranges from €30M to €80M in equity.
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Investec Real Estate has provided a fund managed by Realstar Group, a privately owned real estate investment and management company, with a three-year, £22M investment loan secured against Uncle Manchester, a multifamily scheme in central Manchester.
It is the real estate team’s first transaction with Realstar, a BTR specialist, and the scheme comprises 171 studio and one-bedroom apartments in a Grade II-listed former warehouse building.
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Elevation Advisors has raised £348M of equity and debt capital since the beginning of 2024 for healthcare real estate fund Elevation Healthcare Properties.
Following the last equity raise of £330M in the fourth quarter of 2022, EHP raised an additional £157M of equity in Q1 this year, which will be used to acquire and develop prime elderly care real estate in the UK.
EHP refinanced a debt facility of £153M for another five-year term with a high street bank. The term loan was converted into a sustainability-linked loan alongside sustainability-linked hedging. EHP has also raised a £38M bank facility from Virgin Money.
The company additionally acquired 11 properties from Clariane, leased back to Berkley Care Group for £207M, and a 60-bed, purpose-built care home in Ormskirk Lancashire, with a simultaneous lease to operator Torwood. EHP has also acquired land and a forward-funding agreement for a 61-bed care home in Huddersfield to be developed and then let to Torwood.
CORPORATE
U.S. student housing developer Landmark Properties has confirmed that it is to expand into the UK and Ireland. Landmark said it is “assembling a seasoned UK-based team” spearheaded by Tom Banning as director of UK and Ireland development.
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Evonite has launched a new London-based and independently owned European value-add real estate partnership.
The founding partners include CEO Paul Hampton, former Patrizia head of international fund management; portfolio management partner Charles-Nicolas Tarrière, also formerly of Patrizia; and investment partner Kevin Muscat, formerly head of transactions at Mileway.
Evonite said in a statement that it will pursue a “thematic investment strategy” focused “solely on performance, not AUM growth or transaction size.”
DEVELOPMENT
Real estate investment firm Yoo Capital and affordable housing provider Places for People have partnered on the proposed delivery of hundreds of new homes at Camden Film Quarter, a new film-led development in Kentish Town.
The scheme, announced earlier this year, aims to be a sustainable mixed-use campus that will see 50% of the total residential offering across the land owned by Yoo Capital dedicated to affordable homes.
LEASING
Brookfield Properties has appointed The Instant Group to deliver 11K SF of managed offices at 100 Bishopsgate in the City of London. The Instant Group will provide a flexible and fully managed workspace offering at the BREEAM Excellent-rated building next to Liverpool Street station.
“We are pleased to partner with The Instant Group on 100 Bishopsgate, one of Brookfield Properties’ premier assets globally,” Brookfield Head of Leasing Martin Wallace said in a statement. “The provision of a managed office solution in the building demonstrates the diversity of solutions at 100 Bishopsgate, and underlines Brookfield’s position as a landlord constantly fielding innovative solutions for our customers.”
