AshbyCapital has found a buyer for its UK retail park portfolio, comprising a trio of assets in Swansea, Leeds and Glasgow.
Ashby is understood to have sold the assets to Realty Income Corporation for more than £220m combined. The US investor has amassed a significant retail park and food store empire in the UK since entering the market 2020. The group generally targets acquisitions in the sector that yield between 7% and 8%.
The portfolio, put together through three separate acquisitions between 2015 and 2019 and let to 46 tenants, includes Morfa Shopping Park, a 345,000 sq ft development next to Swansea’s Liberty Stadium. It is occupied by brands including Next, JD Sports and B&Q.
Also included is Westside Shopping Park, a 120,000 sq ft park in Guiseley, northwest of Leeds, with retailers including Currys, Sports Direct, Next and TK Maxx.
Abbotsinch Shopping Park, a 265,000 sq ft retail park in Paisley, close to Glasgow, also forms part of the sale. The park is anchored by B&Q, as well as Dunelm and DFS.
The sale follows an £82.5m refinancing of the three retail parks, put in place last summer from Deutsche Hypo. The three-year loan included a capex facility and was used to refinance an existing debt.
Since acquiring the parks, Ashby, working together with asset manager Quadrant, improved the offer for customers, with upgrades including landscaping and public realm projects and EV charging.
“We invested in these parks at a time when many investors had turned their back on physical retail. Yet the right type of retail, in strong locations and let to retailers with a multi-channel approach and a relevant offer still serves a significant role in communities across the UK.
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Having focused on quality shopping parks that dominate in their local areas and having invested to drive significant improvements and increase rental returns, we’re pleased to sell this portfolio against an improved backdrop for the retail sector.
John Maddison, partner and head of asset management at Quadrant, added: “This sale concludes a successful nine-year partnership with AshbyCapital that adds to our strong track record of working with investors to drive the performance of out-of-town retail parks.
“As the only truly independent and privately owned specialist operating partner in this sector, we look back with pride at the gradual but significant transformation we’ve delivered across these assets, increasing rentable space, improving the experience for customers and securing new tenants and seeing rental growth ahead of the wider market.
“We leave all three assets as exemplars for the sector, in far better physical and occupational condition than when we first started working on them, and strongly positioned for ongoing success.”