Schroder Exempt Property Unit Trust (the Trust) - Mixed-Use Sale - Birmingham, Chester, £45 Million Portfolio

Date: 15 Feb 2005

Schroder Exempt Property Unit Tust (the Trust), Schroders £1.4 billion flagship balanced property unit trust has recently completed £45m of transactions.

The Trust has acquired the 13-acre former Linpac Mouldings site, adjacent to Junction 6 of the M6, in Witton, Birmingham, in a joint venture with Boultbee Land plc. The acquisition, pre-let and development funding of the site will total £18 million. This is the biggest distribution warehouse deal of its type in Birmingham in over five years.

The site will be developed to comprise a 150,000 sq ft unit that has been pre-let to Innovate Logistics Limited together with an 80,000 sq ft unit that will be constructed. King Sturge advised SEPUT, Jones Lang LaSalle advised Boultbee.

The acquisition follows three recent sales totalling £27.7million.

These include two freehold office investments; one at Kingsfield Court, Chester Business Park, Chester sold for £8.475 million, at a yield of 7.7%, to Prospect (GB) Ltd, advised by Stewart Montrose and Lewis Ellis; and the other at 2450-2480 Regents Court, The Crescent, Birmingham Business Park sold for £6.7million, showing a yield of 7.4%, to London & Oriental, advised by FPD Savills. Ashworth Sibal Welsh advised SEPUT on both disposals.

Thirdly, SEPUT, advised by King Sturge, has also sold the Lympne Distribution Park to a private property company for £12.45 million.

Commenting on the deals, Phil Irons, Head of Property Transactions at Schroders said:

"The strength of the current investment market has allowed us to achieve some very successful property sales. Our joint venture with Boultbee has enabled us to simultaneously reinvest the proceeds in line with our strategy of investing in growth locations. With in excess of £500 million to invest across all funds this year, this is an excellent start."

Where do I go now?: » View the latest news items » View the news archive » Subscribe to Weekly Construction Newsletter » Submit news