KKR, Mirastar acquire 550,000 sq ft Widnes shed
A forward funding deal has been struck for the £65m scheme, marking a quartet of link-ups with developer Marshall CDP.
KKR and Mirastar have acquired the 550,000 sq ft industrial unit known as XDock, which is located off Lovels Way next to Alstom Rail Technology Centre.
The deal follows previous acquisitions from Marshall CDP in the North West, including the 708,000 sq ft Gorsey Point, which KKR and Mirastar sold on to Clarion Partners last year.
XDock has been acquired through a forward-funding structure by KKR Real Estate Partners Europe II, a US$2.2bn fund dedicated to value-added and opportunistic real estate investments in Western Europe.
Ekaterina Avdonina, chief executive and co-founder at Mirastar, said: “KKR and Mirastar remain acquisitive for best-in-class developments and funding projects across our key high-conviction markets.
“In this challenging environment, it is a testament to the team to be able to get such a large deal over the line. We remain committed to the UK logistics and industrial sector and are excited to partner with the team at Marshall CDP on this project.”
The Widnes development will be financed by a loan made by CBRE Lending on behalf of Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund and Merseyside Pension Fund.
Andrew Antoniades, head of lending at CBRE Lending, said: “We’re pleased to have made this loan from two of our key lending programmes.
“It is our first loan under our new role investing for the Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund and builds on our track record for lending to strategically important developments for the Merseyside Pension Fund’s Catalyst Fund.”
Marshall CDP has been retained to develop the scheme, which is located within Liverpool’s Freeport.
Simon Marshall, chief executive at CDP, said: “Following our previous successful partnerships with Mirastar-KKR at Widnes Gorsey Point and Speke, CDP are now pleased to have agreed a deal to deliver the flagship logistics development of XDock at our strategic HBC Fields site in Widnes.”
KKR and Mirastar were advised by Carrick RE and Cushman & Wakefield. BCLP, Maples, Savills, Nova Ambiente, Arcadis, Syzygy, and Deloitte for also advised.
