Middlewich industrial estate bought for £15.5m

Investor Warehouse REIT has bought the 29-acre Midpoint Estate, developed by now-collapsed contractor Pochin’s, for £15.5m in deal reflecting a net initial yield of 6.6%.

The 182,500 sq ft estate, including 20 individual units ranging in size from 31,600 sq ft to 2,300 sq ft, sits off Junction 18 of the M6.

The transaction has been funded by the investor’s recently-extended bank facilities with HSBC, and is due to complete in early October.

Andrew Bird, managing director of Tilstone Partners, investment advisor to the REIT, said: “We continue to source economically relevant warehouse properties, which enable the occupiers to drive profits from their operating businesses.

“We are witnessing strong levels of occupational demand, which ties into the recent news of record levels of UK employment.  With vacancy levels remaining low, the warehouse sector is positively positioned for further rental growth and management are confident in their ability to drive shareholder value.

“This acquisition is a further example of the company continuing to take advantage of the attractive opportunities we are seeing. The company does not intend to issue equity in the near term and remains focused on the active management of the portfolio, including the ongoing rotation of a number of smaller assets, to drive future shareholder returns.”